'THROUGH  I 

COLONIAL  f 
<DOOKx\AYSit 


LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA.  I 

GIFT  OF 


GEORGE  MOREY  RICHARDSON. 


Received,  August,  1898. 
No.  J ££..(?.#      Class  No. .... 

'^^&5?&XMEH&Z^JiZ&^XM% 


THROUGH    COLONIAL  DOORWAYS 

TENTH    EDITION 


OF   THB 

UNIVERSITY 


THROUGH 

COLONIAL 

DOORWAYS 


BY 

ANNE  HOLLINGSWOKTH 
WHARTON 


PHILADELPHIA 

J.B.LI PP1NCOTT  COMPANY 

MDCCCXCIII 


xMv5t) 
,\AH 


COPYRIGHT,  1893, 

BY 
J.  B.  LIPPINCOTT  COMPANY. 


PRINTED  BY  J.  B.  LIPPINCOTT  COMPANY,  PHILADELPHIA. 


TO  THE   MEMORY  OF 

MARGARET   N.    CARTER, 

WHOSE    LIVING    AND    LOVING    PRESENCE    WAS    AN    IN 
SPIRATION    DURING  THE    PREPARATION   OF   THESE 
CHAPTERS,      AND      WHOSE      SKETCHES      ARE 
AMONG  THOSE  THAT  ADORN   ITS   PAGES, 

THIS  LITTLE  VOLUME 
is 


THE  revival  of  interest  in  Colonial  and 
Revolutionary  times  has  become  a  marked 
feature  of  the  life  of  to-day.  Its  mani 
festations  are  to  be  found  in  the  litera 
ture  which  has  grown  up  around  these 
periods,  and  in  the  painstaking  individual 
research  being  made  among  documents 
and  records  of  the  past  with  genealogical 
and  historical  intent. 

Not  only  has  a  desire  been  shown  to 
learn  more  of  the  great  events  of  the  last 
century,  but  with  it  has  come  an  altogether 
natural  curiosity  to  gain  some  insight  into 
the  social  and  domestic  life  of  Colonial 
days.  To  read  of  councils,  congresses, 
and  battles  is  not  enough  :  men  and  women 
wish  to  know  something  more  intimate 


Vlll  PREFACE. 


and  personal  of  the  life  of  the  past,  of  how 
their  ancestors  lived  and  loved  as  well  of 
how  they  wrought,  suffered,  and  died. 

With  some  thought  of  gratifying  this  de 
sire,  by  sounding  the  heavy  brass  knocker, 
and  inviting  the  reader  to  enter  with  us 
through  the  broad  doorways  of  some  Colo 
nial  homes  into  the  hospitable  life  within, 
have  these  pages  been  written. 

For  original  material  placed  at  my  dis 
posal,  in  the  form  of  letters  and  manuscripts, 
I  am  indebtdd,;to  nirrnerous  friends,  among 
these  to  Mrs.  Oliver  Hopkmson,  the  Misses 
Sharpies,  Miss  Anjja  E.  Peale,  Miss  F.  A. 
Logan,  Mr§.  .Edward  WAherilJ,  Mr.  C.  R. 
Hildeburn,  and  Mr.  "EMwa/d  Shippen. 

To  the  Editors  of  \&e  Atlc&lbc  Monthly, 
the  Lippincotts  Magazine,  and  ^e  Phila 
delphia  Ledger  and  Times,  I  wish  TK>  ex 
press  my  appreciation  of  their  courtesy  in 
allowing  me  to  use  in  some  of  these  chap 
ters  material  to  which  they  first  gave  place 
in  their  columns. 

A.  H.  W. 
PHILADELPHIA,  March,  1893. 


CONTENTS. 


THROUGH    COLONIAL   DOORWAYS 7 

THE   MESCHIANZA 23 

NEW    YORK    BALLS    AND    RECEPTIONS 65 

THE   AMERICAN    PHILOSOPHICAL   SOCIETY       ...  97 

THE   WISTAR    PARTIES 147 

A   BUNDLE   OF   OLD    LOVE   LETTERS 177 

THE   PHILADELPHIA    DANCING   ASSEMBLIES     ...  IQ7 


OF   THK 

UNIVERSITY 


TROUGH  COLONIAL  DOORWAYS 


T]|HE  historian  of  the  past  has,  as  a  rule, 
..  /  been  pleased  to  treat  with  dignified 
silence  the  lighter  side  of  Colonial  life, 
allowing  the  procession  of  noble  men  and 
fair  women  to  sweep  on,  grand,  stately, 
and  imposing,  but  lacking  the  softer  touches 
that  belong  to  social  and  domestic  life. 
So  much  has  been  written  and  said  of  the 
stern  virtues  of  the  fathers  and  mothers 
of  the  Republic,  and  of  their  sacrifices, 
privations,  and  heroism,  that  we  of  this 
generation  would  be  in  danger  of  regard 
ing  them  as  types  of  excellence  to  be  placed 
upon  pedestals,  rather  than  as  men  and 
women  to  be  loved  with  human  affection, 
were  it  not  for  some  old  letter,  or  diary,  or 
anecdote  that  floats  down  to  us  from  the 
past,  revealing  the  touch  of  nature  that 
makes  them  our  kinsfolk  by  the  bond  of 

7 


THROUGH    COLONIAL   DOORWAYS. 

sympathy  and  interest,  of  taste  and  habit, 
as  well  as  by  that  of  blood. 

The  dignified  Washington  becomes  to 
us  a  more  approachable  personality  when, 
in  a  letter  written  by  Mrs.  John  M.  Bowers, 
we  read  that  when  she  was  a  child  of  six 
he  dandled  her  on  his  knee  and  sang  to 
her  about  "  the  old,  old  man  and  the  old, 
old  woman  who  lived  in  the  vinegar-bottle 
together,"  or  when  we  come  across  a  face 
tious  letter  of  his  own  in  which  the  general 
tells  how  his  cook  was  "  sometimes  minded 
to  cut  a  figure,"  notably,  when  ladies  were 
entertained  at  camp,  and  would,  on  such 
occasions,  add  to  the  ordinary  roast  and 
greens  a  beefsteak  pie  or  a  dish  of  crabs, 
which  left  only  six  feet  of  space  between 
the  different  dishes  instead  of  twelve ;  or 
again,  when  General  Greene  writes  from 
Middlebrook,  "We  had  a  little  dance  at 
my  quarters.  His  Excellency  and  Mrs. 
Greene  danced  upwards  of  three  hours 
without  once  sitting  down.  Upon  the 
whole  we  had  a  pretty  little  frisk." 

We  are  not  accustomed  to  associate 
minuets  and  "  pretty  frisks"  with  the  stern 


THROUGH    COLONIAL    DOORWAYS.  Q 

realities  of  Revolutionary  days,  yet  as 
brief  mention  of  them  comes  down  to  us, 
they  serve  to  light  up  the  background  of 
that  rugged  picture,  as  when  Miss  Sally 
Wister  tells,  in  her  sprightly  journal,  of  the 
tricks  played  by  herself  and  a  bevy  of  gay 
girls  upon  the  young  officers  quartered  in 
the  old  Foulke  mansion,  at  Penllyn,  soon 
after  the  battle  of  Brandywine.  Miss 
Wister's  confidences  are  addressed  to  Miss 
Deborah  Norris,  afterwards  the  learned 
Mrs.  George  Logan,  and  the  principal 
actors  in  the  century-old  drama  are  the 
lively  Miss  Sally,  who  dubs  herself  "  Thy 
smart  journalizer,"  and  Major  Stoddert 
from  Maryland,  who  in  the  first  scenes  plays 
a  role  somewhat  similar  to  that  of  Young 
Marlow,  but  later  develops  attractions  of 
mind  and  character  that  Miss  Sally  finds 
simply  irresistible.  She  considers  him 
both  "  good  natur'd  and  good  humor'd," 
and  evinces  a  fine  discrimination  in  de 
fining  the  application  of  these  terms,  which 
shows  that  a  Quaker  maiden  in  love  may 
still  retain  a  modicum  of  the  clear-headed 
ness  which  is  one  of  the  distinguishing 


10        THROUGH    COLONIAL   DOORWAYS. 

characteristics  of  her  sect.  The  cousinly 
allusions  to  "  chicken-hearted  Liddy" — 
Miss  Liddy  Foulke,  later  known  as  Mrs. 
John  Spencer — and  her  numerous  admirers 
are  very  interesting.  When  Miss  Sally, 
who  is  evidently  reducing  the  heart  of  the 
gallant  major  to  "ashes  of  Sodom,"  naively 
remarks,  a  propos  of  Liddy's  conquests, 
"  When  will  Sally's  admirers  appear  ?  Ah  ! 
that,  indeed.  Why,  Sally  has  not  charms 
sufficient  to  pierce  the  heart  of  a  soldier. 
But  still  I  won't  despair.  Who  knows 
what  mischief  I  yet  may  do  ?"  we  feel  that 
maidens'  hearts  in  1777  were  made  on 
much  the  same  plan  that  they  are  now 
adays,  and  that  even  to  so  rare  a  confi 
dante  as  Miss  Deborah  Norris  the  whole 
was  not  revealed. 

Through  such  old  chroniclers  or  letter- 
writers  we  sometimes  meet  the  great  ladies 
of  the  past  at  ball  or  dinner,  or,  better 
still,  in  the  informal  intercourse  of  their 
own  homes,  and  catch  glimpses  of  their 
husbands  and  lovers,  the  warriors,  states 
men,  and  philosophers  of  the  time,  at  some 
social  club,  like  the  Hasty  Pudding  of 


THROUGH    COLONIAL    DOORWAYS.         I  I 

Cambridge,  the  State  in  Schuylkill  or  the 
Wistar  Parties  of  Philadelphia,  or  the 
Tuesday  Club  and  the  Delphian  in  Balti 
more.  Meeting  them  thus,  enjoying  witti 
cisms  and  good  cheer  in  one  another's 
excellent  company,  we  feel  a  closer  bond 
between  their  life  and  our  own  than  if  they 
were  always  presented  to  us  in  public  cere 
monial  or  with  pen  and  folio  in  hand. 
When  we  read  of  Judge  Peters  crying 
out  good-humoredly,  as  he  pushed  his 
way  between  a  fat  and  a  slim  man  who 
blocked  up  a  doorway,  "  Here  I  go  through 
thick  and  thin ;"  or  when  we  think  of  the 
signers  of  the  Declaration,  gathered  to 
gether  in  the  old  State  House  on  that  mem 
orable  July  day  of  1 776,  illuminating  the  so 
lemnity  of  the  occasion  by  jokes,  even  as 
grim  ones  as  those  of  Hancock  and  Frank 
lin  and  Gerry,  we  are  conscious  of  a  sense 
of  comradeship  inspired  more  by  the  mirth 
and  bonhomie  than  by  the  heroism  of  these 
men,  who  labored  yesterday  that  we  might 
laugh  to-day.  The  great  John  Adams, 
who  with  all  his  greatness  was  not  a  uni 
versal  favorite  among  his  contemporaries, 


12        THROUGH    COLONIAL    DOORWAYS. 

comes  down  to  us  irradiated  with  a  nimbus 
of  amiability,  in  a  picture  that  his  wife 
draws  of  him,  submitting  to  be  driven 
about  the  room  with  a  willow  stick  by  one 
of  his  small  grandchildren  ;  and  when  Mrs. 
Bache  begs  her  "  dear  papa"  not  to  repri 
mand  her  so  severely  for  desiring  a  little 
finery,  in  which  to  appear  at  the  Ambas 
sador's  and  when  she  "  goes  abroad  with 
the  Washingtons,"  because  he  is  the  last 
person  to  wish  to  see  her  "  dressed  with 
singularity,  or  in  a  way  that  will  not  do 
credit  to  her  father  and  her  husband,"  we 
can  fancy  Dr.  Franklin's  grave  features 
relaxing  in  a  smile  over  the  daughter's 
diplomacy,  inherited  from  no  stranger. 
The  wedding  of  President  Madison  to  the 
pretty  Widow  Todd  seems  more  real  to 
us  when  we  learn  from  eye-witnesses  of 
the  various  festivities  that  illuminated  the 
occasion,  and  of  how  the  girls  vied  with 
one  another  in  obtaining  mementos  of  the 
evening,  cutting  in  bits  the  Mechlin  lace 
that  adorned  the  groom's  delicate  shirt- 
ruffles,  and  showering  the  happy  pair  with 
rice  when  they  drove  off  to  Montpelier, 


THROUGH    COLONIAL    DOORWAYS.         13 

old  Mr.  Madison's  estate  in  Virginia. 
Through  it  all,  we  can  hear  Mrs.  Wash 
ington's  earnest  voice  assuring  "  Dolly" 
that  she  and  General  Washington  approve 
of  the  match,  and  that  even  if  Mr.  Madison 
is  twenty  years  older  than  herself,  he  will 
still  make  her  a  good  husband.  That  this 
sensible  advice  from  the  stately  matron 
should  have  made  the  girl-widow  blush 
and  run  away  does  not  surprise  us,  for, 
while  acknowledging  to  an  immense  respect 
for  Mrs.  Washington,  in  consequence  not 
only  of  her  position,  but  of  the  dignity 
and  serenity  of  her  character,  we  are  al 
ways  conscious  of  a  feeling  of  restraint  in 
her  presence,  which  she  makes  no  effort 
to  overcome  by  word  or  smile.  We  can 
not  imagine  ourselves  spending  a  pleasant 
evening  with  her,  discussing  events  of  the 
day,  or  the  last  engagement  or  ball,  as  we 
can  with  Mrs.  John  Adams,  Mrs.  John 
Jay,  or  sprightly  Mrs.  Bache.  We  confess 
to  the  same  emotions  with  regard  to  Mrs. 
Robert  Morris,  whose  character  stands 
out,  like  that  of  her  intimate  friend  Mrs. 
Washington,  surrounded  by  a  halo  of  ex- 


14        THROUGH    COLONIAL    DOORWAYS. 

cellence.  Is  this  the  fault  of  these  worthy 
ladies,  or  is  it  that  of  their  biographers, 
who,  in  presenting  them  to  the  world  with 
all  the  lofty  virtues  of  Roman  matrons, 
have  added  no  lighter  touches  to  their 
pictures?  In  vain  we  search  for  some 
shred  of  gayety,  or  mirth,  or  enthusiasm, 
on  their  part,  and  in  sheer  desperation 
back  out  of  their  presence  with  a  stately 
courtesy,  and  take  refuge  with  Rebecca 
Franks,  or  Sally  Wister,  or  Eliza  South- 
gate,  with  whom  we  are  always  sure  of 
passing  a  merry  half-hour.  Nor  is  it 
frivolity  and  merry-making  that  we  look 
for  in  the  records  of  the  past :  it  is  life, 
with  its  high  hopes  and  homely  cares,  its 
simple  pleasures  and  small  gayeties,  that 
served  to  relieve  the  tension  of  earnest 
endeavor  needed  to  accomplish  a  great  and 
difficult  task.  Mrs.  Adams's  letters  about 
her  children,  her  household  economies,  and 
her  experiments  in  farming  are  almost  as 
interesting  as  those  written  from  abroad, 
because  she  approaches  all  subjects,  even 
the  most  commonplace,  with  a  buoyant 
spirit  and  playful  fancy.  To  her  husband, 


THROUGH    CJLONIAL    DOORWAYS.         15 

during  one  of  his  long  absences  from 
home,  she  writes,  "  I  am  a  mortal  enemy 
to  anything  but  a  cheerful  countenance 
and  a  merry  heart,  which,  Solomon  tells 
us,  does  good  like  medicine."  And  again, 
41 1  could  give  you  a  long  list  of  domestic 
affairs,  but  they  would  only  serve  to  em 
barrass  you  and  in  noways  relieve  me. 
All  domestic  pleasures  are  absorbed  in 
the  great  and  important  duty  you  owe 
your  country,  '  for  our  country  is,  as  it 
were,  a  secondary  god,  and  the  first  and 
greatest  parent.  It  is  to  be  preferred  to 
parents,  wives,  children,  friends,  and  all 
things, — the  gods  only  excepted.'  "  It  is 
not  strange  that  to  such  a  wife  John  Adams 
should  have  written,  "  By  the  accounts  in 
your  last  letter,  it  seems  the  women  in 
Boston  begin  to  think  themselves  able  to 
serve  their  country.  What  a  pity  it  is  that 
our  generals  in  the  northern  districts  had 
not  Aspasias  to  their  wives  !  I  believe  the 
two  Howes  have  not  very  great  women 
for  wives.  If  they  had,  we  should  suffer 
more  from  their  exertions  than  we  do. 
This  is  our  good  fortune.  A  woman  of 


1 6        THROUGH    COLONIAL    DOORWAYS. 

sense  would  not  let  her  husband  spend  five 
weeks  at  sea  in  such  a  season  of  the  year. 
A  smart  wife  would  have  put  Howe  in  pos 
session  of  Philadelphia  a  long  time  ago." 
It  is  evident  that  Mr.  Adams  did  not  need 
to  be  won  over  to  any  modern  theories 
with  regard  to  the  higher  education  of 
women,  and,  as  a  relief  to  the  sterner  side 
of  the  picture,  we  find  the  wife  who  penned 
such  wise  and  inspiriting  words  to  her  hus 
band  entering  on  other  occasions  with  the 
delight  of  a  mondaine  into  a  court  or  re 
publican  function,  describing  the  gowns  of 
the  women,  their  faces  and  their  manners, 
with  the  minuteness  and  accuracy  of  a 
Parisian.  Was  there  ever  anything  written 
more  spirited  than  Mrs.  Adams's  descrip 
tion  of  Madame  Helvetius  at  Passy,  throw 
ing  her  arms  about  the  neck  of  ce  cher 
Franklin?  or  her  picture  of  Queen  Char 
lotte  and  the  royal  princesses,  for  whom  her 
admiration  was  of  the  scantest  ?  With  far 
different  touches  was  it  her  pleasure  to 
describe  some  of  the  American  beauties 
abroad,  for  Mrs.  Adams  was  always  a  true 
daughter  of  New  England,  and  we  can 


THROUGH    COLONIAL    DOORWAYS.         I/ 

read  between  the  lines  when  she  writes  of 
Madame  Helvetius's  singular  manners,  "  I 
should  have  been  greatly  astonished  at 
this  conduct  if  the  good  Doctor  [Franklin] 
had  not  told  me  that  in  this  lady  I  should 
see  a  genuine  Frenchwoman,  wholly  free 
from  affectation  or  stiffness  of  behavior."  * 
Pleasant  it  is,  and  not  wholly  unprofitable 
to  the  student  of  life  and  manners,  to  look 
into  the  family  room  of  some  Colonial 
mansion,  to  hear  girlish  laughter  and  rail 
lery  about  balls  and  beaux  in  one  corner, 
while  in  another  the  father  of  the  family 
writes  of  his  aspirations  for  the  nation  in 
which  his  hopes  for  his  children  are  bound 
up,  and  the  mother,  looking  over  his 
shoulder,  sympathizes  with  his  patriotic 
and  fatherly  ambitions,  while  she  turns 
over  in  her  brain,  for  the  hundredth  time, 
the  important  question  of  how  she  and 
Nancy  are  to  make  a  respectable  ap 
pearance  at  the  next  Assembly  ball,  when 
silks,  laces,  and  feathers  are  so  very  dear, — 
worth  their  weight  in  gold,  as  Mrs.  Bache 

*  Letters  of  Mrs.  John  Adams,  p.  253. 
b  2* 


1 8        THROUGH    COLONIAL    DOORWAYS. 

tells  us.  It  is  such  touches  of  life  as  these 
that  we  find  in  the  diaries  of  Sarah  Eve, 
who  was  living  in  Philadelphia  in  1772,  of 
Eliza  Southgate  of  Scarborough,  and  of 
Elizabeth  Drinker ;  in  Mrs.  Grant's  pictures 
of  New  York  and  Albany  life,  in  which 
Madame  Philip  Schuyler  is  the  central  fig 
ure  ;  or  in  such  letters  as  those  of  Thomas 
Jefferson  to  his  family,  of  Mrs.  Bache, 
Miss  Franks,  Lady  Cathcart,  and  Mrs. 
John  Morgan.  The  latter  gives  us  charm 
ing  glimpses  of  Cambridge  society  in  1776, 
and  tells  of  dinners,  tea-drinkings,  and  re 
views  in  company  with  the  Mifflins,  Rober- 
deaus,  and  others,  of  handsome  officers 
and  pretty  girls.  Of  one  of  the  latter 
she  speaks,  in  a  letter  to  her  mother,  in 
a  manner  which  reveals  her  own  loveli 
ness  of  character  quite  as  clearly  as  it  does 
the  external  charms  of  the  beauty  whom 
all  the  world  and  her  own  husband  ad 
mire.  "  The  one  that  drew  every  one's 
attention,"  she  writes,  "  was  the  famous 
Jersey  beauty,  Miss  Keyes,  who  is  now  on 
a  visit  to  Mr.  Roberdeau.  She  may  justly 
be  said  to  be  fairest  where  thousands  are 


THROUGH    COLONIAL    DOORWAYS.          IQ 

fair.  I  have  had  an  opportunity  of  seeing 
her,  and  think  her  a  most  beautiful  creature, 
and  what  makes  her  still  more  engaging 
is  her  not  betraying  the  least  consciousness 
of  her  own  perfections.  I  am,  it  seems,  a 
most  violent  favorite  with  her;  she  is  to 
dine  here  to-morrow.  You  will  wonder, 
perhaps,  how  this  great  intimacy  took 
place,  but  you  must  know  she  has  been  in 
disposed  since  her  coming  to  town,  and  Dr. 
Morgan  had  the  honor  of  attending  her, — 
you  know  what  an  admirer  of  beauty  he 
is  ;  the  rest  followed,  of  course." 

In  a  different  vein,  but  no  less  piquant, 
are  Lady  Cathcart's  remarks  on  London 
personages  and  functions,  in  the  midst  of 
which  her  thoughts  fly  back  to  her  relatives 
and  friends  in  America.  One  moment 
she  is  describing  the  "  Queen's  Birthnight 
Ball,"  and  the  next  is  sending  Mrs.  Jauncey 
a  picture  of  her  son  with  "  Six  Curies  of  a 
Side,"  or  commenting  upon  Betty  Ship- 
ton's  marriage  to  Major  Giles,  adding,  "  I 
am  sure  I  never  believed  her,  last  winter, 
when  she  used  to  talk  so  much  about  him." 

There  being  many  old  letters  and  diaries 


2O        THROUGH    COLONIAL    DOORWAYS. 

still  unread  and  unpublished,  it  seems  a 
task  not  unworthy  of  the  later  historian 
to  gather  together  such  records,  in  order 
to  present  to  this  generation  more  charac 
teristic  pictures  of  their  grandfathers  and 
grandmothers,  drawn  with  a  freer  hand 
and  touched  with  the  familiar  light  of 
every-day  intercourse.  One  young  girl 
of  the  present  time  was  strongly  attracted 
towards  her  own  great- grandmother  by 
reading  a  letter  written  by  her  to  her 
mother  in  Newport,  asking  her  to  send 
her  from  thence  "  a  sprigged  muslin  petti 
coat,  and  the  making  of  an  apron  such 
as  all  the  girls  are  wearing."  A  rather 
more  modest  request,  this,  than  that  of 
Miss  Eliza  Southgate,  who  begged  her 
mother  for  five  dollars  with  which  to  pur 
chase  a  wig  for  the  next  Assembly,  because 
Eleanor  Coffin  had  one,  and  it  was  quite 
impossible  "  to  dress  her  hair  stylish  with 
out  it."  Placed  thus  in  touch  with  her 
great-grandmother's  longings  and  aspira 
tions,  which  flowed  in  the  same  frivolous 
channel  as  her  own,  this  young  descendant 
suddenly  realized  that  they  two  were  of 


THROUGH    COLONIAL    DOORWAYS.         21 

one  flesh  and  blood,  and  gathering  and 
piecing  together  all  that  could  be  learned 
from  older  members  of  the  family  of  this 
lady  of  the  last  century,  she  has  become 
the  heroine  of  romance  so  thrilling  and  so 
sweet,  that  the  girl  of  to-day  may  be  said 
to  entertain  for  her  unknown  ancestress  a 
more  than  ordinary  affection. 

The  records  that  have  come  down  to  us 
are,  after  all,  only  a  few  out  of  the  great 
mass  written.  Many,  perhaps  equally  in 
teresting,  have  in  some  garret  fallen  a  prey 
to  mould,  decay,  and  the  book-lizard ;  or 
have  found  their  way  to  the  fireplace,  im 
pelled  thither  by  some  family  iconoclast 
possessed  with  a  rage  for  clearing  up ;  or, 
still  more  ignoble  fate,  have  been  torn  up 
for  curl-papers !  A  narrator  of  veracity 
tells  how  a  bevy  of  gay  young  girls, 
gathered  together  in  the  roomy  old  Hop- 
kinson  house  in  Bordentown,  appropriated 
some  letters  found  in  the  garret  to  this 
purpose,  and  lighting  on  some  interesting 
passages,  amused  themselves  by  reading 
them  aloud  at  what  Macaulay  names  the 
"curling  hour."  Reports  of  these  noc- 


22        THROUGH    COLONIAL    DOORWAYS. 

turnal  revels  being  carried  down-stairs,  a 
member  of  the  family  interested  herself 
in  the  preservation  of  the  letters,  which 
proved  an  historical  treasure-trove.  Such 
treasure-troves  will  be  less  likely  to  be 
discovered  as  the  years  go  on,  and  those 
who  would  find  love-letters  like  Esther 
Wynn's,  under  the  cellar  stairs,  had  better 
set  about  looking  for  them  before  mould 
and  dampness  have  utterly  obliterated  the 
characters  traced  in  the  long-ago. 


"Mars,  conquest  plumed,  the  Cyprian  queen  disarms; 
And  victors,  vanquished,  yield  to  Beauty's  charms. 
Here  then  the  laurel,  here  the  palm  we  yield, 
And  all  the  trophies  of  the  tilted  field; 
Here  Whites  and  Blacks,  with  blended  homage, 
To  each  device  the  honors  of  the  day. 
Hard  were  the  task  and  impious  to  decide, 
Where  all  are  fairest,  which  the  fairer  side. 
Enough  for  us  if  by  such  sports  we  strove 
To  grace  this  feast  of  military  love 
And,  joining  in  the  wish  of  every  heart, 
Honor' d  the  friend  and  leader  ere  we  part." 

From  the  Gentleman's  Magazine  of  1778. 

IF  we  could  by  any  means  turn  back,  for 
a  moment,  to  certain  May  days  more  than 
a  hundred  years  ago,  and  enter  one  of  the 
stately  old  Philadelphia  mansions  in  the 
eastern  portion  of  our  city,  then  the  court 
end  of  the  town,  what  a  gay  scene  would 
meet,  our  eyes !  Fair  ladies  gathered  in 
the  spacious  rooms,  in  their  quaint  but 

23 


24        THROUGH    COLONIAL    DOORWAYS. 

becoming  old-time  dress,  bending  over 
brocades,  laces,  and  ribbons,  busied  in 
consulting  upon  and  improvising  ravishing 
costumes,  in  which  to  grace  the  splendid 
fete  to  be  given  to  General  Sir  William 
Howe,  by  the  officers  of  the  British  army, 
previous  to  his  departure  for  England. 
This  army  then  held  possession  of  Penn's 
"  faire  greene  country  towne,"  and  had 
been  busy  during  the  past  winter,  in  lieu 
of  more  warlike  employment,  in  intro 
ducing  among  its  inhabitants  many  of  the 
amusements,  follies,  and  vices  of  Old  World 
courts.  The  Quaker  City  had,  at  the  pleas 
ure  of  her  conqueror,  doffed  her  sober 
drab  and  appeared  in  festal  array ;  for, 
like  the  Babylonian  victors  of  old,  they 
that  wasted  her  required  of  her  mirth. 
The  best  that  the  city  afforded  was  at  the 
disposal  of  the  enemy,  who  seem  to  have 
spent  their  days  in  feasting  and  merry 
making,  while  Washington  and  his  army 
endured  all  the  hardships  of  the  severe 
winter  of  1777-78  upon  the  bleak  hill 
sides  of  Valley  Forge.  Dancing  assem 
blies,  theatrical  entertainments,  and  various 


THE    MESCHIANZA.  25 

gayeties  marked  the  advent  of  the  British 
in  Philadelphia,  all  of  which  formed  a 
fitting  prelude  to  the  full-blown  glories  of 
the  Meschianza,  which  burst  upon  the 
admiring  inhabitants  on  that  last-century 
May  day. 

It  must  be  remembered,  in  looking  back 
upon  these  times,  that  most  of  our  aristo 
cratic  citizens  were  descended  from  old 
English  stock,  and,  with  an  inherent  loyalty 
to  the  monarchy  under  which  they  had 
prospered,  were  still  content  to  avow  them 
selves  subjects  of  King  George,  or,  as 
Graydon  puts  it,  "  stuck  to  their  ease  and 
Madeira,"  declaring  themselves  neutral, 
which  rendered  the  lessons  taught  by  these 
gay,  pleasure-loving  British  officers  easy 
ones,  learned  with  few  grimaces.  Thus, 
although  there  were  many  sober  Friends 
who  cast  indignant  side-glances  at  the 
elaborate  preparations  in  progress  for  this 
brilliant  fete,  and  many  hearts  which  beat 
in  sympathy  with  the  patriot  cause  and 
could  ill  brook  the  thought  of  such  fri 
volity  in  the  midst  of  the  stern  realities  of 
war,  there  was  still  a  large  class  which 

3  X^TBRT^P 

OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY 
•££C41IFORH\* 


26        THROUGH    COLONIAL    DOORWAYS. 

entered  with  spirit  into  a  festivity  which 
was  openly  denounced  by  British  journals 
of  the  day  as  ill-timed  and  absurd,  given, 
as  it  was,  in  honor  of  a  commander  whose 
errors  had  well-nigh  cost  him  his  cause, 
and  who  was  severely  censured  for  these 
months  of  inactivity  and  trifling  which  his 
officers  now  proceeded  to  commemorate. 
Howe  was,  notwithstanding  his  faults  and 
failures,  sincerely  beloved  by  his  officers, 
who  resolved  to  give  him  this  entertain 
ment  that,  as  they  phrased  it,  their  "  sen 
timents  might  be  more  universally  and 
unequivocally  known." 

Major  Andre,  who  took  a  leading  part 
in  the  preparations  for  the  Meschianza, 
composed  some  verses  in  Sir  William's 
praise,  to  be  repeated  during  the  pageant ; 
but,  with  a  modesty  that  has  not  always 
been  attributed  to  him,  he  set  them  aside. 
The  last  stanza  of  this  strain  proves  to  us 
how  readily  this  child  of  monarchy,  poet 
though  he  was,  had  learned  to  cry,  "  The 
King  is  dead.  Long  live  the  King!" 
Howe  being  at  this  very  time  superseded 
by  Clinton,  Andre  writes : 


THE    MESCHIANZA.  2? 

"  On  Hudson's  banks  the  sure  presage  we  read, — 
Of  other  triumphs  to  our  arms  decreed : 
Nor  fear  but  equal  honors  shall  repay 
Each  hardy  deed  where  Clinton  leads  the  way." 

Andre  indulged  in  some  bold  flights  of 
fancy  in  these  verses,  such  as  the  follow 
ing: 

"  Veterans  appeared  who  never  knew  to  yield 
When  Howe  and  glory  led  them  to  the  field." 

Which  are  in  sharp  contrast  with  the  effu 
sions  of  a  Jerseyman  of  the  time,  who, 
with  more  truth  and  less  sentiment,  wrote : 

"  Threat'ning  to  drive  us  from  the  hill, 

Sir  William  marched  to  attack  our  men, 
But  finding  that  we  all  stood  still, 

Sir  William  he — marched  back  again." 

The  day  appointed  for  the  Meschianza 
was  the  i8th  of  May.  Cards  of  invitation 
were  sent  out  and  tickets  of  admission 
given.  The  latter  are  thus  described  by  a 
Whig  lady :  "  On  the  top  is  the  crest  of 
the  Howe  arms,  with  vive  vale  (live  and 
farewell).  To  the  sun  setting  in  the  sea 
the  other  motto  refers,  and  bears  this  trans- 


28        THROUGH    COLONIAL    DOORWAYS. 

lation :  '  He  shines  as  he  sets,  but  shall 
rise  again  more  luminous.'  General  Howe 
being  recalled  is  the  setting  sun;  while 
ploughing  the  ocean  he  is  obscured,  but 
shall,  on  his  return,  and  giving  an  account 
of  his  heroic  deeds,  rise  again  with  re 
doubled  lustre.  The  wreath  of  laurel 
encompassing  the  whole,  encircling  the 
arms,  completes,  I  think,  the  burlesque." 

The  names  by  which  this  fete  is  known, 
Meschianza  and  Mischianza,  are  derived 
from  two  Italian  words, — me  seer e,  to  mix 
and  mischiare,  to  mingle.  Thus  the  enter 
tainment,  so  varied  in  its  nature,  has  been 
named  a  mixture  and  a  medley  with  equal 
propriety.  We  have  adopted  the  spelling 
of  the  original  invitations,  one  of  which 
lies  before  us,  and  reads  thus : 

The  Favor  of  your  meeting  the  Subscribers  to  the 
Meschianza  at  Knight's  Wharf,  near  Pool's  Bridge,  to 
morrow,  at  half-past  three,  is  Desired. 

[Signed]  HENRY  CALDER. 

Sunday,  1 7th  May. 
Miss  CLIFTON. 

Knight's  wharf  was  at  the  edge  of  Green 
Street,  in  the  Northern  Liberties ;  Poole's 


THE    MESCHIANZA.  2Q 

bridge  crossed  Pegg's  Run  at  Front  Street, 
and  was  named  after  one  Poole,  a  Friend, 
whose  mansion  lay  quite  near. 

It  is  curious  to  notice  that  this  invitation 
to  Miss  Eleanor  Clifton,  whose  portrait 
proclaims  her  one  of  the  beauties  of  the 
period,  is  dated  but  one  day  in  advance  of 
the  fete,  which  would  lead  us  to  fear  that 
this  lady  was  tempted  to  commit  the  sin 
of  sewing  at  her  ball-dress  on  a  Sunday, 
like  that  unfortunate  damsel  of  Queen 
Elizabeth's  time  whom  Mrs.  Jarley  holds 
up  as  a  waxen  warning  to  all  Sabbath- 
breakers,  had  we  not  good  reason  to  infer 
that  a  verbal  invitation  had  been  given 
long  before. 

The  preparations  for  this  magnificent 
entertainment,  the  erection  of  the  numer 
ous  and  vast  pavilions  around  the  old 
Wharton  mansion,  and  their  decoration 
by  Andre,  Delancey,  and  all  the  other 
gallant  officers  who  took  part  in  the  affair, 
were  doubtless  the  talk  of  the  town  for 
weeks.  Yards  and  yards  of  painting  must 
have  been  executed  by  the  indefatigable 
Andre,  as  the  ceilings,  sides,  and  decora- 
3* 


3O        THROUGH    COLONIAL    DOORWAYS. 

tions  of  the  long  pavilions,  designed  for 
the  supper-  and  ball-rooms,  were  to  a  great 
extent  the  work  of  his  hands.  Here  he 
used  unsparingly  the  pencil  that  had  made 
its  virgin  essay  on  the  features  of  lovely, 
unrequiting  Honora  Sneyd,  lingering,  with 
true  artistic  fervor,  over  festoons  of  roses 
and  bouquets  of  drooping  flowers. 

The  owner  of  this  property  was  dubbed 
by  his  contemporaries  "  Duke  Wharton," 
in  consequence  of  the  extreme  haughtiness 
of  his  bearing  and,  it  is  said,  from  the  fol 
lowing  circumstance :  "  One  winter's  day, 
when  the  sidewalks  were  rendered  danger 
ously  slippery  from  the  accumulated  ice 
upon  them,  Mr.  Wharton,  while  attempting 
to  make  his  usual  dignified  progress  over 
the  uncertain  footing,  was  suddenly  tripped 
up,  and  would  have  measured  his  length 
upon  the  pavement,  had  not  a  jovial  Hi 
bernian,  passing  at  the  moment,  stretched 
forth  a  friendly  hand  to  his  aid,  crying  out, 
'  God  save  my  Lord  the  Duke  !'  "  Another 
amusing  passage  of  compliments,  this  time 
with  Sir  William  Draper,  is  related  by 
Graydon :  "  Sir  William,  observing  that 


THE    MESCHIANZA.  3! 

Mr.  Wharton  entered  the  room  hat  in 
hand,  and  remained  uncovered,  begged, 
as  it  was  contrary  to  the  custom  of  his 
Society  to  do  so,  that  the  Quaker  gentle 
man  would  dispense  with  this  unnecessary 
mark  of  respect.  But  the  '  Duke,'  feeling 
his  pride  piqued  at  the  supposition  that  he 
would  uncover  to  Sir  William  or  any  other 
man,  replied,  with  entire  sang-froid,  that 
he  had  uncovered  for  his  own  comfort,  the 
day  being  warm,  and  that  whenever  he 
found  it  convenient  he  would  resume  his 
hat."  These  and  other  stories,  all  indi 
cating  a  pride  that  seems  to  have  been 
considered  commendable  in  those  days, 
repeated  with  embellishments,  doubtless 
added  to  the  merriment  of  many  convivial 
after-dinner  gatherings,  and  passing  from 
mouth  to  mouth,  served  to  establish  the 
reputation  and  title  of  this  old  Quaker 
gentleman,  whose  death  occurred  more 
than  a  year  previous  to  the  British  occu 
pation  of  Philadelphia.*  The  fact  that 


*  It  is  pleasant  to  learn  that  Mr.  Joseph  Wharton,  the 
owner  of  Walnut  Grove,  if  proud  was  also  benevolent, 


32        THROUGH    COLONIAL    DOORWAYS. 

Walnut  Grove  was  a  country-seat,  and  in 
all  probability  used  by  the  Wharton  family 
only  during  the  summer  months,  may  ac 
count  for  the  British  officers  having  entire 
possession  of  the  premises  in  the  spring 
of  '78,  while  its  size  and  situation  made 
it  an  appropriate  place  in  which  to  hold 
their  revels.  Surrounded  by  broad  lawns 
and  lofty  trees,  situated  at  some  distance 
west  of  the  Delaware  River,  at  what  is 
now  Fifth  Street  near  Washington  Avenue, 
Walnut  Grove  was  then  considered  quite 
a  rural  residence.  It  has  long  since  dis 
appeared,  the  encroaching  streets  of  a  busy 
city  having  rendered  almost  traditional  the 
theatre  of  this  gay  and  brilliant  scene, 
although  there  were  those  still  living,  on 
the  anniversary  of  the  festival  in  1878,  who 
recalled  the  old  brick  house  as  it  stood  in 
Colonial  times,  and  one  who  slid  down  the 
balusters  of  the  stairway  in  boyish  frolic, 
with  never  a  thought  of  all  the  gay  and 
gallant  throng  which  once  passed  over  the 

as  we  find  his  name  among  liberal  contributors  to  one 
of  the  first  Philadelphia  almshouses. 


THE    MESCHIANZA.  33 

stairs  and  down  the  broad  hall  to  the 
sound  of  music,  merry  jests,  courtly  com 
pliments,  and  rippling  laughter. 

It  is  said  that  there  were  not  many 
ladies  with  the  British  officers  in  Phila 
delphia,  most  of  them  having  left  their 
wives  in  New  York ;  so,  there  being  few 
authorities  to  consult  about  the  prevailing 
fashions  at  the  court  of  the  beautiful  Aus 
trian  or  the  less  beautiful  Queen  Charlotte, 
our  young  ladies  were  forced  to  rely  upon 
their  own  ingenuity  in  the  arrangement  of 
their  toilets.  Those  chosen  to  be  knights' 
ladies  were  assisted  by  the  taste  and  skill 
of  Andre,  whose  water-color  design  for 
the  costume  of  the  ladies  of  the  Blended 
Rose  is  still  preserved,  representing  a  curi 
ous  combination  of  Oriental  and  Parisian 
styles,  its  flowing  tunic  over  full  Turkish 
trousers  being  topped  by  the  high  coiffure 
of  the  day.  Miss  Peggy  Shippen's  por 
trait  *  represents  her  in  this  head-dress, 
and  in  a  letter  written  to  her  in  August, 


*  This  sketch,  by  Major  Andre,  is  in  the  possession 
of  Mr.  Edward  Shippen,  of  Philadelphia. 


34        THROUGH    COLONIAL    DOORWAYS. 

1779,  Andre  playfully  alludes  to  his  mil 
linery  experience  gained  during  prepara 
tions  for  the  fete  : 

"  You  know  the  Mesquianza  made  me  a  complete  mil 
liner.  Should  you  not  have  received  supplies  for  your 
fullest  equipment  from  that  department,  I  shall  be  glad 
to  enter  into  the  whole  details  of  cap-wire,  needles, 
gauze,  &c.,  and,  to  the  best  of  my  abilities,  render  you 
in  these  trifles  services  from  which  I  hope  you  would 
infer  a  zeal  to  be  further  employed." 

A  rash  offer,  it  seems  to  us,  for  what 
knight,  be  he  never  so  bold,  would  be 
willing  to  enter  into  all  the  intricacies  and 
mysteries  of  a  modern  feminine  toilet? 
And  those  of  the  days  of  powder,  patch, 
and  high  befeathered  coiffure  were  cer 
tainly  not  less  bewildering  to  the  minds 
of  the  uninitiated. 

Although  from  various  sources  we  learn 
that  Andre  took  an  active  part  in  the  prep 
arations  for  the  Meschianza,  out  of  doors 
as  well  as  among  laces  and  silks  in  fair 
ladies'  boudoirs,  Mr.  Sargent  tells  us  that 
Burgoyne*  was  the  conductor  of  the  ele- 

*  "  We  all  know  of  Burgoyne's  surrender,  but  hardly 
one  knows  Burgoyne's  comedies,  and  yet  there  are  few 


THE   MESCHIANZA.  35 

gant  affair,  which  was  on  the  plan  of  a 
fete  champetre  given  by  Lord  Derby,  June, 
1774,  on  the  occasion  of  Lord  Stanley's 
marriage  with  the  Duke  of  Hamilton's 
daughter.  Only  about  fifty  young  Phila 
delphia  ladies  were  present  at  the  Meschi- 
anza ;  but  if  we  are  to  credit  history  and 
the  gossip  of  the  day,  the  destruction 
wrought  by  their  charms  upon  the  hearts 
of  the  British  officers  must  have  been 
equal  to  that  to  have  been  expected  from 
twice  their  number,  for  all  authorities  unite 
in  telling  us  that  the  ladies  of  this  city  were 
justly  celebrated  for  their  beauty,  of  a 
certain  grand  and  noble  type.  Watson 
says  that  most  of  the  American  gentlemen 
who  took  part  in  the  Meschianza  were 

cleverer  or  more  brilliant,  of  a  second  order,  than 
'  The  Heiress,'  and  '  Maid  of  Oaks.'  In  a  letter,  dated 
New  York,  June  2,  1777,  he  says,  '  You  cannot  imagine 
anything  half  so  beautiful  as  this  country.  It  is  im 
possible  to  conceive  anything  so  delightful.  Lady 
Holland,  in  spite  of  her  politics,  would,  I  am  sure,  feel 
for  it,  if  she  could  see  the  ruin  and  desolation  we  have 
introduced  into  the  most  beautiful  and,  I  verily  believe, 
happiest  part  of  the  universe.'  " — World  Essays  :  Wil 
liam  B.  Reed,  pp.  176,  177. 


36        THROUGH    COLONIAL    DOORWAYS. 

"  aged  non-combatants,"  the  young  men 
of  the  city  being  Whigs,  and  generally,  be 
it  said  to  their  credit,  with  Washington's 
army  at  Valley  Forge. 

There  seems  to  be  no  doubt  that  a  num 
ber  of  Whig  ladies  graced  this  entertain 
ment,  and  one  of  them,  herself,  describes 
the  affair  in  glowing  colors.  What  shall  we 
say  for  the  erring  fair  ones  ?  That  they 
were  young,  beautiful,  anxious  to  see  and 
perhaps  to  be  seen.  Shall  we,  standing  amid 
the  lights  and  shadows  of  another  century, 
be  severe  in  our  judgment  upon  these  fair, 
curious  Eves  of  a  hundred  years  ago  ? 
They  had  read  of  grand  doings  among 
court  ladies  and  gentlemen  in  the  exagger 
ated  and  stilted  romances  of  the  day,  until 
their  foolish  hearts  were  in  an  eager  flut 
ter  of  anticipation  and  delight.  The  whole 
town  was  talking  about  the  projected 
fete ;  the  young  officers  were  constantly 
passing  to  and  fro  busied  with  the  ar 
rangements  ;  so  grand  a  sight  might 
never  again  dawn  upon  the  Philadelphia 
world.  Thus  reasoning,  and  dropping  the 
while  a  tear  for  the  braves  at  Valley 


THE    MESCHIANZA.  37 

Forge,  these  inconsistent  Whig  ladies 
yielded. 

From  the  windows  of  some  dwellings 
belonging  to  Friends — opposed  in  principle 
to  such  scenes  of  gayety  and  dissipation — 
eyes  as  eager  as  any  looked  forth  upon  the 
busy  scene  of  preparation,  like  doves  from 
behind  imprisoning  bars.  Sweet  young 
Quakeresses,  gentle-eyed  as  the  dove  and 
gentle-voiced,  that  gay  land  of  enchant 
ment  down  the  river — a  seeming  Elysium 
— is  not  for  you !  How  they  must  have 
longed  to  go — sitting  by  the  fireside,  like 
so  many  Cinderellas,  watching  their  happy 
sisters  start  off  bravely  attired  to  the  ball ! 
To  them,  alas !  came  no  fairy  godmother, 
so  they  reluctantly  folded  their  soft  wings 
and  stayed  at  home. 

In  a  little,  old,  commonplace-book  found 
in  a  house  in  Southwark,  and  now  in  the 
possession  of  the  Historical  Society  of 
Pennsylvania,  among  extracts  from  various 
authors — some  in  English,  some  in  Latin, 
proving  the  unknown  writer  to  have  been 
a  person  of  taste  and  culture — is  a  descrip 
tion  of  the  Meschianza  penned  by  an  eye- 

4 


38        THROUGH    COLONIAL   DOORWAYS. 

witness.  With  the  exception  of  the  well- 
known  account  of  the  fete  given  by  Major 
Andre  in  a  letter  to  a  friend  in  England, 
this  is  the  most  detailed  recital  that  we 
have  encountered.  Opening  the  yellowed 
pages,  we  read : 

"  Agreeable  to  an  invitation  of  the  managers  of  the 
Meschianza,  Dr.  M.,  Mr.  F.,  and  myself  went  up  about 
four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  in  Mr.  F.'s  Coach,  to 
Knight's  wharf,  where  we  found  most  of  the  company 
in  the  Boats.  Some  of  these  were  on  the  water  in  the 
galley  with  Lord  Howe,  among  them  Mrs.  Chew,  Mrs. 
Hamilton,  Mrs.  Worrell,  Mrs.  Coxe,  Miss  Chew,  Miss 
Auchmuty,  Miss  Redman,  Miss  Franks,  &c.,  General 
Howe,  Sir  Henry  Clinton,  Lord  Rawdon,  &c.  ;  and 
General  Knyphausen  and  his  attendants  were  in  another 
Galley.  We  continued  waiting  on  the  water  for  the 
rest  of  the  company  near  half  an  Hour,  when,  a  Signal 
being  given  from  the  '  Vigilant,'  we  began  to  move  in 
three  divisions,  a  Galley  and  ten  flatboats  in  each  division. 
In  the  first  was  General  Knyphausen,  &c.,  in  the  third 
British  and  German  officers,  and  in  the  middle,  Lord 
General  Howe,  &c. — with  three  Barges,  in  each  of  which 
were  bands  of  music  playing." 

A  lady  in  Philadelphia  at  this  time  who 
attended  the  Meschianza,  although  she  de 
clares  herself  a  noted  Whig,  thus  describes 


THE    MESCHIANZA.  39 

this  portion  of  the  entertainment  in  a 
letter  addressed  to  Mrs.  Colonel  Bland,  in 
England : 

"  On  the  back  of  the  ticket,  you  observe,  we  are  to 
attend  at  Knight's  wharf  (you  remember  Pool's  bridge 
near  Kensington).  Thither  we  accordingly  repaired  in 
carriages  at  the  appointed  hour  of  three,  where  we  found 
a  vast  number  of  boats,  barges,  and  galleys  to  receive  us, 
all  adorned  with  small  colors  or  jacks  of  different  colors. 
On  a  sign  from  the  '  Vigilant'  we  all  embarked,  forming 
lines,  with  all  the  music  belonging  to  the  army  in  the 
centre.  The  ladies  interspersed  in  the  different  boats 
(the  seats  of  which  were  covered  with  green  cloth)  with 
the  red  coats,  colors  flying,  music  playing,  etc.,  you  may 
easily  suppose  formed  a  very  gay  and  grand  appearance  ; 
nor  were  the  shore  and  houses,  lined  with  spectators,  any 
bad  object  to  those  in  the  regatta  (the  water  party  so 
called).  We  were  obliged  to  row  gently  on  account  of 
the  galley  sailing  slow. 

"  The  armed  ship — the  '  Fanny' — was  drawn  into  the 
stream  and  decorated  in  the  most  beautiful  manner  with 
the  colors  of  every  Court  or  State  streaming  ;  amidst  the 
number,  the  thirteen  stripes  waved  with  as  much  ele 
gance,  and  as  gracefully  sported  with  the  gentle  zephyrs, 
as  any  of  the  number.  After  passing  the  above  ship  we 
reached  the  '  Roebuck,'  whose  men  were  all  fixed  on 
her  yards  and  gave  us  three  cheers  as  we  passed,  and  as 
soon  as  we  had  got  to  a  distance  not  to  be  incommoded 
by  the  smoke  she  fired  a  salute  and  was  answered  by 
several  other  vessels  in  the  harbor.  At  length  we  reached 
the  place  of  destination  (after  lying  awhile  on  our  oars) 


40        THROUGH    COLONIAL    DOORWAYS. 

opposite  the  '  Roebuck,'  the  music  playing  '  God  Save 
the  King.'  " 

The  regatta  which  headed  the  pro 
gramme  of  the  Meschianza  was  suggested 
by  a  similar  pageant  on  the  Thames,  June 
23>  J775»  and,  being  a  novelty  even  in  old 
England,  it  is  not  strange  that  it  should 
have  set  provincial  Philadelphia  astir,  nor 
that  six  barges  were  needed  to  keep  at  a 
distance  the  numerous  boats,  filled  with 
eager  spectators,  that  crowded  the  Dela 
ware  on  the  day  of  the  entertainment, 
when : 

"  There  in  the  broad,  clear  afternoon, 
With  myriad  oars,  and  all  in  tune, 
A  swarm  of  barges  moved  away 
In  all  their  grand  regatta  pride." 

We  doubt  whether  those  who  disap 
proved  of  the  whole  affair — the  Quakers, 
Whigs,  and  many  sensible  Tories — could 
forbear  casting  furtive  glances  toward  that 
fairy  procession,  which,  Read  says, — 

"  Like  tropic  isles  of  flowery  light, 
Unmoored  by  some  enchanter's  might, 
O'erflowed  with  music,  floated  down 
Pefore  the  wharf-assembled  town." 


THE    MESCHIANZA.  41 

Thus  this  gay  and  brilliant  fleet  pro 
ceeded  down  the  river  with  flying  col 
ors,  while  the  band  played  stirring  Eng 
lish  airs,  amid  the  soft  breezes  and  under 
the  perfect  skies  of  an  old-time  May  day, 
until  they  arrived  opposite  the  scene  of 
the  festivity,  where  everything  was  in 
readiness  for  joust  and  revelry.  Salutes 
were  fired  by  the  "  Roebuck"  as  soon  as 
General  Howe  stepped  on  shore,  which 
were  echoed  by  the"  Vigilant"  and  several 
smaller  vessels  up  and  down  the  river. 

"  The  fleet  at  the  wharves,"  says  our 
journalist,  "  consisting  of  about  three  hun 
dred  sail,  adorned  with  colors,  and  together 
with  the  procession,  exhibited  a  very  grand 
and  pleasing  appearance."  Very  grand  it 
must  have  been  to  see  those  knights,  ladies, 
and  officers,  in  their  rich  costumes,  leaving 
behind  them  the  gay  scene  on  the  river, 
and  walking  between  two  files  of  grenadiers 
up  the  avenue  toward  the  house  !  The 
bravest  display  of  the  kind  that  the  New 
World  could  afford,  for  Philadelphia  then 
excelled  all  the  other  Colonial  cities  in 
size,  culture,  and  importance  ;  and  here,  be- 


42         THROUGH    COLONIAL    DOORWAYS. 

side  the  flower  of  the  English  army,  were 
met  some  of  the  most  beautiful  women  of 
the  day. 

Passing  up  this  avenue,  the  company 
entered  a  lawn,  four  hundred  yards  on 
every  side,  where  all  was  prepared  for  the 
exhibition  of  a  tournament  according  to 
the  laws  of  ancient  chivalry.  Here  were 
two  pavilions,  with  rows  of  benches  rising 
one  above  the  other ;  on  the  front  row  of 
each  were  placed  seven  of  the  principal 
young  ladies  of  the  county,  arrayed  in 
white  Poland  dresses  of  Mantua  with 
long  sleeves,  a  gauze  turban  spangled,  and 
sashes  round  the  waist.  Seven  of  them 
wore  pink  sashes  with  silver  spangles,  and 
the  others  white  with  gold  spangles.  All 
bore  in  their  turbans  favors  destined  for 
their  respective  knights.  Those  who  wore 
pink  and  white  were  called  the  Ladies  of 
the  Blended  Rose,  and  were  Miss  Auch- 
muty,  Miss  Peggy  Chew,  Miss  Janet  Craig, 
Miss  Nancy  Redman,  Miss  Nancy  White, 
Miss  Williamina  Bond,  and  Miss  Shippen. 
Lord  Cathcart,  who  led  the  Knights  of  the 
Blended  Rose  in  Miss  Achmuty's  honor, 


THE    MESCHIANZA.  43 

appeared  upon  a  superb  charger.  Two 
young  black  slaves,  with  sashes  of  blue 
and  white  silk,  wearing  large  silver  clasps 
round  their  necks  and  arms,  their  breasts 
and  shoulders  bare,  held  his  stirrups.  On 
his  right  hand  walked  Captain  Hazard,  and 
on  his  left  Captain  Brownlow,  his  two 
esquires,  the  one  bearing  his  lance,  the 
other  his  shield.  His  device  was  Cupid 
riding  on  a  Lion ;  the  motto, "  Surmounted 
by  Love." 

The  Ladies  of  the  Burning  Mountain, 
whose  dress  was  white  and  gold,  and 
whose  chief  was  Captain  Watson,  superbly 
mounted,  and  arrayed  in  a  magnificent 
suit  of  black  and  orange  silk,  were  Miss 
Rebecca  Franks,  in  whose  honor  Captain 
Watson  appeared,  with  the  motto  "  Love 
and  Glory,"  Miss  Sarah  Shippen,  Miss  P. 
Shippen,  Miss  Becky  Bond,  Miss  Becky 
Redman,  Miss  Sally  Chew,  and  Miss  Wil- 
liamina  Smith. 

In  all  descriptions  of  the  Meschianza 
related  by  eye-witnesses,  the  Shippen  sis 
ters  are  spoken  of  as  having  taken  a  promi 
nent  part  in  the  entertainment.  Only 


44        THROUGH    COLONIAL    DOORWAYS. 

within  a  few  years  has  a  letter  from  a 
member  of  the  family  controverted  this 
statement,  in  the  following  terms : 

"  The  young  ladies  [the  daughters  of  Chief  Justice 
Edward  Shippen]  had  been  invited  and  had  arranged 
to  go  [to  the  Meschianza]  ;  their  names  were  upon  the 
programmes,  and  their  dresses  actually  prepared  ;  but  at 
the  last  moment  their  father  was  visited  by  some  of  his 
friends,  prominent  members  of  the  Society  of  Friends, 
who  persuaded  him  that  it  would  be  by  no  means  seemly 
that  his  daughters  should  appear  in  public  in  the  Turkish 
dresses  designed  for  the  occasion.  Consequently,  al 
though  they  are  said  to  have  been  in  a  dancing  fury, 
they  were  obliged  to  stay  away.  This  same  story  has, 
I  know,  come  down  independently  through  several 
branches  of  the  family,  and  was  told  to  me  repeatedly, 
the  last  time  not  more  than  two  years  ago,  by  an  old 
lady  of  the  family,  who  was  a  niece  of  Mrs.  Arnold 
and  her  sisters,  and  who  has  since  died."  * 

Major  Andre  includes  the  Shippens  in 
his  description  of  the  entertainment  printed 
in  the  Gentleman's  Magazine  in  August, 
1778.  The  discrepancy  between  his  state 
ment  and  the  family  letters  can  be  ac 
counted  for  only  upon  the  supposition  that, 

*  From  a  letter  of  the  late  Lawrence  Lewis,  Jr.,  writ 
ten  in  1879. 


THE    MESCHIANZA.  45 

like  the  modern  reporter,  Andre  sent  off 
his  copy  before  the  ball  had  taken  place  ; 
or  perhaps  the  "  dancing  fury"  of  his 
daughters  had  such  an  effect  upon  the 
Chief  Justice  that,  at  the  last  moment,  the 
girls  were  allowed  to  go. 

Beautiful,  brilliant,  and  fascinating,  full 
of  spirit  and  gayety,  the  toast  of  the  British 
officers,  Miss  Peggy  Shippen  seems  so 
much  a  part  of  the  Meschianza  that  we 
incline  to  the  latter  theory,  being  almost 
as  unwilling  to  spare  her  and  her  sisters 
from  the  ranks  of  beauty  as  were  the  gal 
lant  young  officers  who  were  prepared  to 
do  battle  in  their  honor. 

As  soon  as  the  fair  ladies  were  seated 
upon  the  benches  prepared  for  them,  the 
crowd  on  the  left  gave  way,  and  the 
Knights  of  the  Blended  Rose  appeared 
mounted  on  white  steeds  elegantly  capari 
soned  and  covered  with  white  satin  orna 
mented  with  pink  roses.  "  These  knights," 
says  our  journalist,  "  were  dressed  in  white 
and  pink  satin,  with  hats  of  pink  silk,  the 
brims  of  which  were  covered  with  white 
feathers.  Each  knight  had  his  squire  on 


46        THROUGH    COLONIAL    DOORWAYS. 

foot,  dressed  also  in  white  and  pink,  with 
the  addition  of  a  cloak  of  white  silk. 
Every  squire  carried  a  spear  and  shield, 
each  of  which  had  a  different  device  and 
motto." 

The  knights,  having  all  ridden  around 
the  lists  and  saluted  the  ladies,  sent  their 
herald,  with  two  trumpeters,  to  the  Dul- 
cineas  with  this  message :  "  The  Knights 
of  the  Blended  Rose,  by  me  their  herald, 
proclaim  and  assert  that  the  ladies  of  the 
Blended  Rose  excel  in  wit,  beauty,  and 
every  other  accomplishment  all  other  ladies 
in  the  world,  and  if  any  knight  or  knights 
shall  be  so  hardy  as  to  deny  this,  they  are 
determined  to  support  their  assertion  by 
deeds  of  arms,  agreeable  to  the  laws  of 
ancient  chivalry." 

The  trumpets  then  sounded,  and  the 
herald  returned  to  the  knights,  who  rode 
by,  saluted  the  Dulcineas,  and  took  their 
places  on  the  left  hand,  about  one  hundred 
yards  distant. 

The  crowd  opening  on  the  other  side,  a 
herald  in  orange  and  black,  with  a  picture 
of  a  burning  mountain  on  his  back,  rode 


THE   MESCHIANZA.  47 

forward  to  assure  the  fair  ones  of  the 
Burning  Mountain  that  their  claims  to  wit, 
beauty,  and  all  other  charms,  par  excellence, 
should  be  vindicated  by  the  knights  whose 
colors  they  wore,  "  against  the  false  and 
vainglorious  assertions  of  the  Knights  of 
the  Blended  Rose." 

The  field  marshal,  Major  Gwynne,  now 
gave  the  signal,  upon  which  a  glove  was 
thrown  down  by  the  chief  of  the  White 
Knights,  which  was  picked  up  by  the 
esquire  of  the  chief  of  the  Black  Knights ; 
the  trumpet  sounded,  and  the  fight  was 
on,  under  the  fire  of  many  bright  eyes  from 
the  pavilions  where  the  Queens  of  Beauty 
were  seated. 

Lances  were  shivered,  pistols  fired,  and 
finally,  in  the  midst  of  an  engagement  with 
broadswords,  Major  Gywnne  rode  in  be 
tween  the  combatants,  declaring  that  the 
ladies  were  abundantly  satisfied  with  the 
proofs  of  valor  and  devotion  displayed  by 
their  respective  knights.  These  fell  back, 
and,  joining  their  companies,  passed  on,  the 
White  Knights  to  the  left,  the  Black  to 
the  right,  saluting  their  ladies  when  they 


48        THROUGH    COLONIAL  DOORWAYS. 

reached  the  pavilions,  after  which  they 
passed  through  the  triumphal  arch,  in 
honor  of  Lord  Howe,  and  ranged  them 
selves  on  either  side.  This  arch  was 
elegantly  painted  with  naval  ornaments. 
At  the  top  was  a  figure  representing 
Neptune,  with  his  trident  and  a  ship.  In 
the  interior  were  the  attributes  of  that 
god.  On  each  side  of  the  arch  was 
placed  a  sailor,  with  his  sword  drawn. 
Lord  Howe  being  an  admiral  in  the 
service,  these  emblems  were  most  appro 
priate. 

The  knights'  ladies  passed  under  the 
arch  after  the  knights,  who  dismounted 
and  joined  them,  all  proceeding  together 
along  a  broad  avenue,  brilliantly  decorated, 
to  another  arch  of  the  same  size  and  ele 
gance  as  the  first,  this  in  honor  of  Sir 
William  Howe.  "  Upon  passing  this  second 
arch,"  our  journalist  tells  us,  "  we  entered 
a  beautiful  Flower- Garden  and  up  a  Gravel 
Court,  ascended  a  flight  of  Steps  which 
conducted  us  into  the  House,  at  the  door 
of  which  we  were  received  by  the  Man 
agers  of  the  Meschianza,-  -namely,  Sir 


THE   MESCHIANZA.  49 

John  Wrottesley,  Sir  Henry  Calder,  Col 
onel  O'Hara,  and  Colonel  Montresor." 
Andre  mentions  the  same,  except  that  he 
substitutes  Major  Gardiner  for  Sir  Henry 
Calder. 

Two  folding-doors  were  opened,  and  the 
company  was  ushered  into  a  large  hall,  bril 
liantly  lighted,  where  tea,  coffee,  and  cakes 
were  served,  and  where  the  knights  upon 
bended  knee  received  the  favors  due  them 
from  their  respective  ladies.  This  scene 
must  have  been  one  of  the  most  grace 
ful  and  charming  of  the  whole  pageant, 
and  had  it  not  been  for  the  remembrance 
of  that  dear  Honora  whose  miniature 
he  always  wore,  Andre  certainly  could 
not  have  remained  insensible  to  the  mani 
fold  attractions  of  Miss  Peggy  Chew,  who 
now  rewarded  him  for  having  "perilled 
life  and  limb"  in  her  service,  and  whose 
praises  are  thus  sung  by  Mr.  Joseph  Ship- 
pen: 

"  With  either  Chew  such  beauties  dwell, 

Such  charms  by  each  are  shared, 
No  critic's  judging  eye  can  tell 

Which  merits  most  regard. 
d  5 


5O      THROUGH  COLONIAL  DOORWAYS. 

"  »Tis  far  beyond  the  painter's  skill 

To  set  their  charms  to  view , 
As  far  beyond  the  poet's  quill 
To  give  the  praise  that's  due.*' 

Amid  blushes,  soft  whisperings,  and 
compliments  such  as  the  gentlemen  of  that 
time  were  skilled  in  paying,  the  fair  ones 
bestowed  their  gracious  favors  ;  after  which 
the  company  entered  another  hall,  elabo 
rately  decorated  and  hung  with  eighty- 
five  mirrors,  decked  with  rose-pink  silk 
ribbons  and  artificial  flowers.  In  this 
ball-room,  whose  walls  were  pale  blue  and 
rose-pink,  with  panels  on  which  were  drop 
ping  festoons  of  flowers,  "  when  the  com 
pany  was  come  up,"  says  our  authority, 
quaintly,  "  the  Dulcineas  danced  first  with 
the  knights,  and  then  with  the  squires, 
and  after  them  the  rest  of  the  company 
danced." 

At  half-past  ten  o'clock  the  windows 
were  thrown  open  to  enable  the  guests  to 
enjoy  the  magnificent  fireworks  on  the 
lawn,  when  the  triumphal  arch  near  the 
house  appeared  brilliantly ,  illuminated, 
Fame  blowing  from  her  trumpet  these 


THE    MESCHIANZA.  51 

words :  "  Tes  Lauriers  sont  immortels" — 
meaning  Sir  William's. 

About  this  time  Captain  Allan  McLane, 
with  a  company  of  infantry  and  Clow's 
dragoons,  was  endeavoring  to  win  for  him 
self  immortal  laurels  by  firing  the  abatis 
at  the  north  of  the  city,  which  connected 
the  line  of  the  British  redoubts.  When 
the  flames  reddened  the  sky  the  ladies, 
doubtless,  clapped  their  hands  with  delight, 
wondering  at  the  beauty  of  the  illumina 
tion,  which  illusion  was  encouraged  by  the 
officers ;  and  later,  when  the  roll-call  was 
sounded  along  the  line  and  the  guns  of  the 
redoubts  fired,  the  guests  were  assured 
that  this  was  all  a  part  of  the  celebration, 
and  the  dancing  continued.  Although 
McLane  did  not  succeed  in  breaking  up 
the  party,  as  he  had  hoped,  he  gave  the 
British  officers  a  fright,  which  must  have 
considerably  marred  the  enjoyment  of  the 
evening  for  them.  The  dragoons  sent  in 
pursuit  of  the  incendiaries  did  not  succeed 
in  overtaking  them,  as  they  found  a  refuge 
among  the  hills  of  the  Wissahickon. 

"  After  the  fireworks  the  company  re- 


52         THROUGH    COLONIAL    DOORWAYS. 

turned,  some  to  dancing  and  others  to  a 
Faro-bank,  which  was  opened  by  three 
German  officers  in  one  of  the  Parlours. 
The  Company  continued  dancing  and  play 
ing  until  twelve  o'clock,  when  we  were 
called  to  Supper,  and  two  folding-doors  at 
the  end  of  the  hall  being  thrown  open,  we 
entered  a  room  two  hundred  feet  long  by 
forty  wide.  The  Floor  was  covered  with 
painted  Canvas,  and  the  roof  and  sides 
adorned  with  paintings  and  ornamented 
with  fifty  large  mirrors.  From  the  roof 
hung  twelve  Lustres,  with  twenty  Sperma 
ceti  candles  in  each.  In  this  room  were  two 
Tables,  reaching  from  one  end  to  the  other. 
On  the  two  tables  were  fifty  large,  elegant 
pyramids,  with  Jellies,  Syllabub,  Cakes,  and 
Sweetmeats."  Beside  this  there  were  vari 
ous  substantiate,  soup  being  mentioned  as 
the  only  viand  served  hot. 

Major  Andre,  after  describing  the  dec 
orations  of  this  supper-room,  says  that 
"there  were  four  hundred  and  thirty 
covers,  twelve  hundred  dishes,  and  twenty- 
four  black  slaves  in  Oriental  dresses,  with 
silver  collars  and  bracelets,  ranged  in  two 


THE    MESCHIANZA.  53 

lines,  and  bending  to  the  ground  as  the 
general  and  admiral  approached  the  sa 
loon  ;  all  these,  forming  together  the  most 
brilliant  assemblage  of  gay  objects,  and 
appearing  at  once  as  we  entered  by  an 
easy  descent,  exhibited  a  coup-d' ceil  beyond 
description  magnificent." 

Toward  the  end  of  supper,  the  herald 
of  the  Blended  Rose,  in  his  habit  of  cere 
mony,  attended  by  his  trumpeters,  entered 
the  saloon  and  proclaimed  the  King's 
health,  the  Queen's,  and  that  of  the  royal 
family.  After  the  toast  to  the  King,  all 
the  company  rose  and  sang  "  God  Save  the 
King,"  which  must  have  been  a  very  trying 
moment  to  those  Whig  ladies  present,  who 
through  all  the  enjoyment  of  the  day  were 
doubtless  considerably  pricked  in  their 
consciences.  More  loyal  toasts  followed, 
to  the  army  and  navy,  their  commanders, 
and  finally  to  the  ladies  and  their  knights, 
the  ladies'  toast  being  :  "  The  Founder  of 
the  Feast." 

We  are  pained  to  read  that  some  of  the 
gentlemen,  among  them  one  of  the  same 
party  as  our  quaint  journalist,  were  so 
5* 


54        THROUGH    COLONIAL    DOORWAYS. 

ungallant  as  to  remain  at  table,  declaring 
their  intention  of  devoting  the  night  to 
Bacchus, — alas  for  Venus !  The  guests 
did  not  disperse  until  dawn  began  to  redden 
the  eastern  sky,  and  some  tarried  until  the 
sun  was  up. 

Here  I  cannot  forbear  transcribing  some 
verses  written  by  a  lady — Miss  Hannah 
Griffitts — residing  in  Philadelphia  at  this 
time,  in  which,  though  an  ardent  loyalist, 
she,  as  a  member  of  the  Society  of  Friends, 
expressed  her  indignation  against  the  whole 
affair.  The  poem  is  in  answer  to  the  ques 
tion,  "  What  is  it  ?"  and  the  Quaker  lady's 
reply  rings  forth  with  no  uncertain  sound. 


"  A  shameful  scene  of  dissipation, 
The  death  of  sense  and  reputation ; 
A  deep  degeneracy  of  nature, 
A  frolic  '  for  the  lush  of  satire.' 
A  feast  of  grandeur  fit  for  kings, 
Formed  of  the  following  empty  things  : 
Ribbons  and  gewgaws,  tints  and  tinsel, 
To  glow  beneath  the  historic  pencil ; 
(For  what  though  reason  now  stands  neuter, 
How  will  it  sparkle, — page  the  future  ?) 
Heroes  that  will  not  bear  inspection, 
And  glasses  to  affect  reflection  ; 


THE    MESCHIANZA.  55 

Triumphant  arches  raised  in  blunders, 
And  true  Don  Quixotes  made  of  wonders. 
Laurels,  instead  of  weeping  willows, 
To  crown  the  bacchanalian  fellows ; 
The  sound  of  victory  complete, 
Loudly  re-echoed  from  defeat ; 
The  fair  of  vanity  profound, 
A  madman's  dance, — a  lover's  round. 

1  In  short,  it's  one  clear  contradiction 
To  every  truth  (except  a  fiction) ; 
Condemned  by  wisdom's  silver  rules, 
The  blush  of  sense  and  gaze  of  fools. 

But  recollection's  pained  to  know 
That  ladies  joined  the  frantic  show  ; 
When  female  prudence  thus  can  fail, 
It's  time  the  sex  should  wear  the  veil." 


So  ended  this  afternoon  and  evening  of 
brilliant  and  gorgeous  pageantry,  resem 
bling  more  nearly  a  chapter  from  one  of 
the  richly-colored  Eastern  fairy-tales  that 
delighted  our  childhood  than  a  story  of 
Colonial  days,  which  was  speedily  followed 
by  the  sober  realities  of  Sir  William  and 
Lord  Howe's  return  to  England  and  by 
Clinton's  evacuation  of  Philadelphia. 

It  may  be  interesting  to  follow  the  fates 


56        THROUGH    COLONIAL    DOORWAYS. 

of  those  gay  beauties  who  held  their  brief, 
brilliant  court  through  that  spring  after 
noon,  especially  so  to  that  much  maligned 
class  who  study  the  science  of  love  and 
courtship,  crudely  called  match-makers. 

Strange  as  it  may  seem,  none  of  the 
queens  of  the  Meschianza  married  their 
respective  knights.  Miss  Janet  Craig, 
whose  knight  was  Lieutenant  Bygrove, 
and  who  has  described  the  whole  scene  as 
one  of  enchantment  to  her  young  mind, 
was  never  married. 

The  chief  lady  of  the  Knights  of  the 
Blended  Rose,  although  spoken  of  fre 
quently  as  an  English  girl,  was  the 
daughter  of  the  Rev.  Samuel  Auchmuty, 
D.D.,  of  Trinity  Church,  New  York,  a  de 
voted  loyalist.  Miss  Auchmuty  was  with 
her  brother-in-law,  Captain  Montresor, 
chief  engineer  of  General  Gage's  army  at 
Boston,  to  whose  skill  the  success  of  the 
fireworks  at  the  Meschianza  was  largely 
due. 

Williamina  Smith,  whose  picture,  with 
its  bright  eyes  and  tip-tilted  nose,  lies  be 
fore  us,  had  for  her  knight  Major  Tarleton, 


THE    MESCHIANZA.  57 

who  appeared  with  the  motto  "  Swift,  vig 
ilant,  and  bold."  He  who  was  afterward 
the  terror  of  the  South  is  described  as  a 
fine,  soldierly  fellow  of  one-and-twenty, 
who,  "  when  not  riding  races  with  Major 
Gwynne  on  the  commons,"  spent  his  time 
in  making  love  to  the  ladies.  Miss  Smith 
became  the  wife  of  Charles  Goldsborough, 
of  Long  Neck,  Dorset  County,  Maryland. 
The  Misses  Redman,  so  often  mentioned 
among  the  belles  of  the  time,  were  nieces 
of  the  famous  Dr.  John  Redman.  Miss 
Rebecca,  whose  knight  was  Monsieur 
Montluisant*  (lieutenant  of  Hessian  Chas 
seurs),  with  the  emblem  a  sunflower  turn 
ing  to  the  sun,  her  motto  "Je  vise  a  vous" 
is  said  to  have  been  the  Queen  of  the  Mes- 
chianza,  whom  Watson  describes,  many 
years  later,  as  old  and  blind,  "  fast  waning 
from  the  things  that  be,"  yet  able  to  paint 


*  It  appears  that  this  knight  with  the  shining  name 
and  emblem  had  not  a  reputation  to  match  them.  We 
learn  that  he  entered  the  army  only  to  get  to  America, 
was  discharged,  tried  to  join  the  Colonial  army,  and 
was  seized  and  sent  to  England.  (German  Allied 
Troops,  1776-1783,  p.  333.) 


58         THROUGH    COLONIAL    DOORWAYS. 

in  vivid  colors  the  occurrences  of  this  day. 
She  spoke  of  Andre  as  the  life  of  the  com 
pany.  It  is  not  strange  that  this  brave 
young  officer  and  elegant  and  accomplished 
gentleman,  who  added  so  much  to  the  en 
joyment  of  the  loyalist  ladies  of  Phila 
delphia  during  the  British  occupation, 
should  have  been  long  held  by  them  in 
grateful  remembrance.  We  know  that  he 
was  on  terms  of  intimate  friendship  with 
one  of  these  sisters,  as  it  was  for  her  he 
wrote  those  tender,  plaintive  verses,  com 
mencing, — 

"  Return,  enraptured  hours, 

When  Delia's  heart  was  mine; 

When  she  with  wreaths  of  flowers 

My  temples  would  entwine." 

For  her  he  cut  silhouettes  of  mutual  friends, 
and,  on  leaving  the  city,  severed  one  of  the 
buttons  of  his  coat,  which  he  playfully 
presented  to  her  as  a  parting  keepsake. 
Miss  Rebecca  Redman  married  Colonel 
Elisha  Lawrence  in  December,  1779. 

Miss  Margaret  Chew,  in  whose  honor 
Major  Andre    appeared  with   the   motto 


THE    MESCHIANZA.  59 

"  No  rival,"  was  married  on  the  ninth 
anniversary  of  the  Meschianza  to  Colonel 
John  Eager  Howard,  of  Maryland.  The 
Howards  of  Belvidere  are  a  well-known 
Baltimore  family,  and  this  young  man  filled 
a  prominent  place  in  the  war  of  the  Revo 
lution.  He  was  present  at  the  battle  of 
White  Plains,  distinguished  himself  at  Ger- 
mantown,  where  so  many  of  our  heroes 
strove  in  vain  to  turn  the  tide  of  battle, 
served  under  Gates  in  the  South,  and  at 
the  battle  of  Cowpens  decided  the  fortunes 
of  the  day  by  a  successful  bayonet  charge. 
At  one  time,  it  is  said,  he  held  in  his 
hands  the  swords  of  seven  British  officers 
of  the  Seventy- First  Regiment.  After  the 
war  he  was  Governor  of  Maryland  and 
filled  other  public  offices  of  importance. 
Surely,  in  this  case,  "  the  brave  deserved 
the  fair." 

One  of  the  most  striking  figures  in  this 
brilliant  assemblage  was  Rebecca  Franks, 
who  was  as  celebrated  for  her  ready  wit 
as  was  Peggy  Shippen  for  her  exquisite 
beauty  and  grace.  Handsome,  witty,  and 
an  heiress,  combining  with  these  attrac- 


6O         THROUGH    COLONIAL   DOORWAYS. 

tions  that  of  being  an  ardent  loyalist, 
it  is  not  strange  that  Miss  Franks  was 
given  a  high  place  at  the  British  revel. 
She  won  the  affections  of  Colonel  Sir 
Henry  Johnson,  who  while  in  Philadelphia 
was  quartered  on  Edward  Penington,  a 
leading  Friend,  living  at  the  corner  of 
Crown  and  Race  Streets.  The  marriage 
took  place  January  17,  1782,  and  after  the 
surrender  of  Yorktown  Sir  Henry  and  his 
bride  sailed  for  England.  Colonel  John 
son  was  surprised  at  Stony  Point  on  the 
night  of  July  15,  1779,  by  Wayne,  and 
made  prisoner  with  all  his  force.  He 
afterwards  distinguished  himself  in  the 
Irish  rebellion,  and  was  created  Baronet. 
Although  Cornwallis  speaks  of  Sir  Henry 
as  "a  wrong-headed  blockhead,"  and 
thinks  that  he  has  been  unduly  praised,  we 
are  inclined  to  say  that  he  who  was  willing 
to  run  the  gauntlet  of  Miss  Franks's  daring 
raillery  must  have  been  a  brave  man.  She 
seems  to  have  spared  neither  friend  nor 
foe,  and  her  wit  was  always  telling,  whether 
flashing  up  m  the  quick  rejoinder,  "No; 
Britons,  go  home,  you  mean,"  when  Sir 


THE   MESCHIANZA.  6l 

Henry  Clinton  ordered  the  band  to  play 
"  Britons,  Strike  Home,"  at  a  New  York 
ball,  or  in  her  keen,  sharp  rebuff  when 
Lieutenant-Colonel  Jack  Steward,  of  Mary 
land,  after  the  evacuation  of  Philadelphia 
by  the  British,  appeared  before  her  in  a 
fine  suit  of  scarlet,  saying,  "  I  have  adopted 
your  colors,  my  Princess,  the  better  to  se 
cure  a  courteous  reception ;  deign  to  smile 
on  a  true  knight."  To  this  speech  Miss 
Franks  made  no  reply,  but,  turning  to  the 
company  who  surrounded  her,  exclaimed, 
"  How  the  ass  glories  in  the  lion's  skin !" 

One  of  this  lady's  pointed  shafts  was 
directed  at  General  Charles  Lee,  and  this 
time  the  daring  beauty  met  her  match,  for 
he  not  only  vindicated  himself  from  her 
charge  of  having  worn  "  green  breeches 
patched  with  leather,"  but  in  language 
more  caustic  than  courtly  alluded  to  her 
own  Jewish  ancestry.  There  is  a  flavor  of 
the  wit  of  Lady  Mary  Wortley  Montagu 
and  Walpole  in  these  jokes;  but  they  raised 
a  great  laugh  at  the  time,  and  were  per 
haps  of  a  sort  to  be  better  relished  in  Miss 
Franks's  future  home  than  in  America. 
6 


62         THROUGH    COLONIAL    DOORWAYS. 

General  Winfield  Scott  gives  a  descrip 
tion  of  an  interview  held  with  this  lady  at 
her  residence,  at  Bath,  when  years  had 
sadly  impaired  the  beauty  that  had  once 
captivated  all  hearts.  A  bright-eyed  old 
lady  in  an  easy-chair  met  Scott  with  an 
eager,  kindly  gaze  and  the  query,  "  Is  this 
the  young  rebel  ?"  Such  were  her  words, 
yet,  before  the  conversation  ended,  Lady 
Johnson  confessed  that  she  had  learned  to 
glory  in  her  rebel  countrymen  and  wished 
that  she  had  been  a  patriot,  too.  "  Not 
that  heaven  had  failed  to  bless  her  with  a 
good  husband,  either,"  she  replied  to  Sir 
Henry's  gentle  remonstrances. 

When  the  Americans  regained  posses 
sion  of  Philadelphia  an  effort  was  made 
by  the  Whigs  to  exclude  from  their  gather 
ings  those  ladies  who  had  taken  part  in  the 
Meschianza  and  other  British  entertain 
ments.*  With  this  object  in  view,  a  ball 
was  given  at  the  City  Tavern  "to  the 
young  ladies  who  had  manifested  their 

*  Fred.  D.  Stone.  Pennsylvania  Magazine,  vol.  iii. 
P-  336. 


THE    MESCHIANZA.  63 

attachment  to  the  cause  of  virtue  and 
freedom  by  sacrificing  every  convenience  to 
the  love  of  their  country."  *  This  sounded 
patriotic  enough,  but  we  learn  that  General 
Arnold  soon  after  gave  an  entertainment 
at  which  the  Tory  ladies  appeared  in  full 
force,  which  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  in 
view  of  the  intelligence  that  Mrs.  Robert 
Morris  communicated  to  her  mother  about 
this  time:  "  I  must  tell  you  that  Cupid  has 
given  our  little  General  a  more  mortal 
wound  than  all  the  hosts  of  Britons  could, 
unless  his  present  conduct  can  expiate  for 
his  past, — Miss  Peggy  Shippen  is  the  fair 
one." 

With  Cupid  thus  taking  a  hand  in  the 
game,  and  bringing  to  the  feet  of  one  of 
the  brightest  of  the  Tory  belles  the  mili 
tary  commandant  of  Philadelphia,  we  can 
readily  believe  that  General  Wayne's  severe 
strictures  upon  the  foolish  fair  fell  upon 
unheeding  ears : 

"Tell  those  Philadelphia  ladies,  who  attended  Howe's 
assemblies  &  levees,"  he  writes  in  July,  1778,  "  that  the 

*  Watson's  Annals  of  Philadelphia,  vol.  ii.  p.  297. 


64        THROUGH    COLONIAL    DOORWAYS. 

heavenly,  sweet,  pretty  red-coats — the  accomplished 
gentlemen  of  the  guards  &  grenadiers  have  been  humbled 
on  the  plains  of  Monmouth. 

"  The  Knights  of  the  Blended  Roses  and  of  the  Burn 
ing  Mount  have  resigned  their  laurels  to  Rebel  officers, 
who  will  lay  them  at  the  feet  of  those  virtuous  daughters 
of  America,  who  cheerfully  gave  up  ease  and  affluence 
in  a  city,  for  liberty  and  peace  of  mind  in  a  cottage."  * 

*  Biographical  Sketch  of  General  Anthony  Wayne, 
Hazard's  Register,  p.  389. 


MID  elaborate  ceremonials  attending 
the  reception  and  inauguration  of 
the  first  President  of  the  Republic,  we 
find  some  homely  touches  of  nature,  as 
when  those  two  admirable  housewives 
Mrs.  Washington  and  Mrs.  Adams  were 
detained  at  home,  in  April  and  May, 
1789,  by  domestic  duties,  and  so  missed 
all  the  joyful  demonstrations  along  the 
route,  as  well  as  the  brave  welcome  ac 
corded  their  distinguished  husbands  in 
the  city  of  New  York.  Mrs.  Washing 
ton  was  busied  in  putting  her  household 
in  order,  and  shipping  china,  cut  glass, 
silver-ware,  and  linen  from  Mount  Ver- 
non  to  the  capital,  while  from  John 
6*  65 


66        THROUGH    COLONIAL    DOORWAYS. 

Adams's  letters  we  gather  that  the  wife, 
whom  he  so  trusted  that  he  permitted 
her  to  dispose  of  sheep,  cows,  and  other 
live-stock,  on  her  own  responsibility,  was 
attending  to  such  matters  at  Braintree, 
Massachusetts,  prior  to  the  removal  of  her 
household  gods  to  the  fine  country-place 
at  Richmond  Hill  that  Mr.  Adams  had 
rented  for  the  season.* 

Although  Mr.  Samuel  Breck,  recently 
arrived  from  Europe,  found  New  York  in 
1787  "a  poor  town,  with  about  twenty- 
three  thousand  people,  not  yet  recovered 
from  its  Revolutionary  wounds"  and  the 
great  fire  that  swept  over  its  western  portion, 
he  is  pleased,  two  years  later,  to  admire 
the  improvements  recently  made,  especially 
some  beautiful  houses  built  on  Broadway 
by  Mr.  Macomb,  one  of  which  was  occu 
pied  by  General  Knox,  the  Secretary  of 
War.  As  soon  as  it  transpired  that  New 
York  was  to  be  the  meeting-place  of  the 
new  Congress,  and  that  General  Washing- 

*  This  house  was  the  residence  of  Aaron  Burr  at  the 
time  of  his  duel  with  Alexander  Hamilton. 


NEW    YORK    BALLS    AND    RECEPTIONS.       6/ 

ton  was  elected  President,  the  selection  of 
a  suitable  residence  for  the  Chief  Magis 
trate  became  a  matter  of  considerable 
interest  in  Republican  circles.  The  Presi 
dent  later  occupied  Mr.  Macomb's  house 
on  Broadway  near  Bowling  Green,  subse 
quently  known  as  the  Mansion  House  and 
Bunker's  Hotel ;  but  his  first  residence  was 
the  house  of  Walter  Franklin,  as  is  proved 
by  a  letter  written  from  New  York,  April 
30,  1789,  which  with  other  family  papers 
furnishes  us  some  interesting  facts  relating 
to  this  old  homestead,  and  its  renovation 
preparatory  to  the  advent  of  the  President 
and  his  wife,  that  have  not  yet  appeared 
in  the  histories  of  the  time.  The  clever 
chronicler  is  Mrs.  William  T.  Robinson, 
and  the  letter  is  addressed  to  Miss  Kitty 
Wistar,  of  Brandy  wine,  afterwards  Mrs. 
Sharpies,  through  the  courtesy  of  whose 
descendants  it  has  come  into  the  writer's 
hands. 

"  Great  rejoicing  in  New  York,"  she  says,  "  on  the 
arrival  of  General  Washington.  An  elegant  Barge 
decorated  with  an  awning  of  Sattin,  12  oarsmen  drest  in 
white  frocks  and  blue  ribbons,  went  down  to  E.  Town 


68        THROUGH    COLONIAL    DOORWAYS. 

[Elizabeth]  last  fourth  day  to  bring  him  up.  A  Stage 
was  erected  at  the  Coffee  House  wharf  covered  with  a 
carpet  for  him  to  step  on,  where  a  company  of  light 
horse,  one  of  Artillery,  and  most  of  the  Inhabitants 
were  waiting  to  receive  him.*  They  Paraded  through 
Queen  Street  in  great  form,  while  the  music,  the  Drums 
and  ringing  of  bells  were  enough  to  stun  one  with  the 
noise.  Previous  to  his  coming  Uncle  Walter's  house  in 
Cherry  Street  was  taken  for  him  and  every  room  furnished 
in  the  most  elegant  manner. 

"  The  evening  after  his  Excellency's  arrival  a  general 
Illumination  took  place,  excepting  among  Friends,  and 
those  styled  Anti-Federalists  :  the  latter's  windows  suf 
fered  some,  thou  may  imagine.  As  soon  as  the  Gen 
eral  has  sworn  in,  a  grand  exhibition  of  fire-works  is  to 
be  displayed,  which  it  is  expected  will  be  to-morrow. 
There  is  scarcely  anything  talked  of  now  but  General 
Washington  and  the  Palace." 


*  Mrs.  Robinson's  statement  that  a  carpet  was  spread 
from  the  wharf  for  the  President  to  walk  upon  was 
authenticated,  more  than  sixty  years  later,  by  an  eye 
witness  of  the  scene.  Dr.  Atlee,  in  1850,  while  sub 
stitute-resident  at  the  Pennsylvania  Hospital  in  Phila 
delphia,  met  a  man  of  eighty-two  who,  when  he  learned 
that  the  young  physician  was  named  Walter  Franklin 
Atlee,  exclaimed  at  the  coincidence,  saying  that  he  re 
membered  having  seen  General  Washington  come  up 
the  river  in  a  boat,  and  walk  on  a  carpet  to  Walter 
Franklin's  house,  where  he  and  Mrs.  Washington  were 
to  reside. 


NEW  YORK  BALLS  AND  RECEPTIONS.   69 

The  palace  referred  to  is,  evidently,  the 
former  residence  of  Walter  Franklin,  situ 
ated  at  the  corner  of  Pearl  and  Cherry 
Streets,  then  owned  by  his  widow,  who  had 
married  Mr.  Samuel  Osgood,  Postmaster- 
General  under  the  new  administration. 
Watson  says  that  the  Franklin  House  on 
Pearl  Street  was  "  No.  I  in  pre-eminence," 
and,  from  the  wealth  and  position  of  its 
owner,  it  was  evidently  considered  the  best 
in  the  city  for  the  purpose.  Mrs.  Robinson 
describes  it  as  having  been  very  sumptu 
ously  fitted  up  ;  and  so  it  doubtless  was,  ac 
cording  to  the  prevailing  idea  of  elegance. 
Miss  Wistar's  correspondent  adds 

"  Thou  must  know  that  Uncle  Osgood  and  Duer  were 
appointed  to  procure  a  house  and  furnish  it;  accord 
ingly  they  pitched  on  their  wives  as  being  likely  to  do 
it  better.  Aunt  Osgood  and  Lady  Kitty  Duer  had  the 
whole  management  of  it.  I  went  the  morning  before 
the  General's  arrival  to  look  at  it.  The  house  really  did 
honour  to  my  Aunt  and  Lady  Kitty,  they  spared  no 
pains  nor  expense  in  it.  I  have  not  done  yet,  my  dear, 
is  thee  not  almost  tired  ?  The  best  of  furniture  in  every 
room,  and  the  greatest  quantity  of  plate  and  China  that 
I  ever  saw  before.  The  whole  of  the  first  and  second 
Story  is  papered,  and  the  floor  covered  with  the  richest 
kind  of  Turkey  and  Wilton  Carpets." 


7O        THROUGH    COLONIAL    DOORWAYS. 

The  Mr.  Duer  spoken  of  by  Mrs.  Robin 
son  is  Colonel  William  Duer,  who  had 
early  in  life  been  aide-de-camp  to  Lord 
Clive  in  India,  and  who  later  held  impor 
tant  positions  under  the  Federal  govern 
ment.  His  wife  was  one  of  the  daughters 
of  General  William  Alexander,  claimant 
to  the  Scottish  earldom  of  Stirling.  She 
consequently  figured  in  New  York  society 
as  Lady  Kitty  Duer,  giving,  with  her 
own  sister,  Lady  Mary  Watts,  and  Lady 
Temple,  a  flavor  of  British  aristocracy  to 
republican  circles.  Lady  Kitty  is  de 
scribed  by  John  Quincy  Adams  as  "  one 
of  the  sweetest-looking  women  in  the  city," 
— which  testimony  is  scarcely  corroborated 
by  her  portrait  in  the  exaggerated  coiffure 
of  the  day. 

Walter  Franklin's  house  on  Cherry 
Street,  and  that  of  his  brother  Samuel, 
which  was  around  the  corner  on  Pearl 
Street,  were  both  near  the  shipping  quarter 
of  the  town,  in  which  respect  they  resem 
bled  fashionable  Philadelphia  residences  of 
the  same  period.  A  number  of  interesting 
family  traditions  cluster  about  these  fine 


NEW  YORK  BALLS  AND  RECEPTIONS.   /I 

old  houses,  in  which  a  bevy  of  gay  girls 
was  gathered  together,  who  charmed  the 
British  officers  during  their  occupation  of 
the  city,  just  as  their  Quaker  sisters  were 
doing  in  old  Philadelphia.  Some  of  the 
officers  were  quartered  on  the  Franklins, 
among  them  Lord  Rawdon  and  Admiral 

o 

Lord  Richard  Howe,  who  respectively 
commanded  the  army  and  the  fleet.  Sally 
Franklin,  the  writer  of  the  letter  from 
which  we  have  quoted,  was  then  a  young 
girl,  and  a  very  beautiful  one.  Her  mar 
riage  with  Mr.  Robinson  took  place  while 
the  British  had  possession  of  New  York. 
She  was  evidently  a  great  favorite  with  the 
officers  in  command,  who  begged  to  be 
permitted  to  attend  her  wedding  in  Quaker 
meeting.  This  request  was  refused,  on  the 
plea  that  the  wedding  was  to  be  a  very 
quiet  one.  British  officers,  as  Miss  Rebecca 
Franks  has  informed  us,  were  not  accus 
tomed  to  take  no  for  an  answer,  unless 
accompanied  with  shot  and  shell.  Ac 
cordingly,  on  the  morning  of  the  marriage, 
when  the  beautiful  bride,  in  her  white  silk 
dress  and  white  bonnet,  stood  in  the  quaint 


72         THROUGH    COLONIAL    DOORWAYS. 

old  meeting,  listening  to  the  words  of  her 
lover,  "  I  take  this  Friend,  Sarah  Franklin, 
to  be  my  wedded  wife,"  a  sudden  sound  of 
footsteps  and  clattering  of  swords  against 
the  benches  was  heard,  and,  lo !  Lord 
Rawdon,  Lord  Howe,  and  a  train  of  young 
officers,  resplendent  in  gay  uniforms  and 
gold  lace,  stood  within  the  solemn  en 
closure  of  the  meeting.  They  seated  them 
selves,  with  malice  aforethought,  on  a  long 
bench  opposite  the  bride,  whose  turn  had 
now  come  to  speak.  Trembling,  and  care 
fully  avoiding  the  eyes  of  the  strangers, 
who  had  vowed  that  they  would  make  her 
smile  in  the  midst  of  the  ceremony,  she 
performed  her  part,  declaring  her  intention 
to  take  Friend  William  to  be  her  wedded 
husband.  When  the  marriage  certificate 
was  signed,  the  names  of  Lord  Howe, 
Lord  Rawdon,  and  the  other  officers  were 
appended,  beautiful  Sarah  Robinson  show 
ing  her  forgiving  spirit  still  further  by 
allowing  those,  among  the  intruders,  who 
were  well  known  to  her  to  return  to  the 
house  and  partake  of  the  wedding-feast. 
The  New  York  girls  had  a  longer  time 


NEW   YORK    BALLS    AND    RECEPTIONS.       73 

in  which  to  enjoy  the  society  of  the  gallant 
red-coats  than  their  Philadelphia  sisters, 
and  were  consequently  in  greater  danger 
of  losing  their  hearts  to  them.  There 
were  some  marriages  with  British  officers, 
as  in  the  family  of  Andrew  Elliot,  Lieu- 
tenant-Governor  of  New  York,  one  of 
whose  daughters  married  Admiral  Robert 
Digby,  while  another,  Elizabeth,  became 
the  wife  of  William,  tenth  Baron  and  first 
Earl  of  Cathcart,  the  same  who  as  Lord 
Cathcart  had  figured  as  chief  of  the 
Knights  of  the  Blended  Rose  in  the  Mes- 
chianza.*  Miss  Philipse  was  also  one  of 

*  "  Lady  Cathcart  was  Lady  of  the  Bedchamber  to 
Queen  Charlotte.  Peter  Pindar  celebrates  her  at  Wey- 
mouth  in  connection  with  the  king's  insensate  manners : 

'  Caesar  spies  Lady  Cathcart  with  a  book ; 
He  flies  to  know  what  'tis — he  longs  to  look. 
"  What's  in  your  hand,  my  lady?  let  me  know?" — 
"  A  book,  an't  please  your  majesty  ?" — "  Oho  ! 
Book's  a  good  thing — good  thing, — I  like  a  book. 
Very  good  thing,  my  lady, — let  me  look. 
War  of  America !  my  lady,  hae  ? 
Bad  thing,  my  lady  !  fling,  fling  that  away."  '  " 
Life  of  Major  John  Andrk,  by  Winthrop  Sargent,  p. 
147. 

D  7 


74        THROUGH    COLONIAL    DOORWAYS. 

those  who  yielded  to  the  attractions  of  the 
enemy,  as  she  married  the  Hon.  Lionel 
Smythe,  son  of  Philip,  fourth  Viscount 
Strafford,  at  the  time  captain  of  the  Twenty- 
Third  British  Foot.  Most  of  the  New 
York  belles  had,  as  Graydon  puts  it,  "suf 
ficient  toleration  for  our  cause  to  marry 
officers  of  the  Continental  army,"  and 
when  the  new  administration  came  in,  we 
find  them  as  ready  to  dance  to  Whig  music 
as  they  had  been  to  Tory.  The  Comte  de 
Moustier  soon  gave  these  impartial  fair 
ones  an  opportunity  to  display  their  Terp- 
sichorean  powers  at  a  very  elegant  ball, 
given  to  President  Washington,  two  weeks 
after  his  inauguration,  at  the  Macomb 
house,  on  Broadway,  which  was  after 
wards  occupied  by  President  Washington. 
On  this  occasion  the  alliance  between 
France  and  America  was  represented  in  a 
cotillon,  half  the  dancers  being  in  French 
costume  and  the  other  half  in  American ; 
the  ladies  who  represented  France  wear 
ing  red  roses  and  flowers  of  France,  and 
the  American  ladies  blue  ribbons  and 
American  flowers.  Mr.  Elias  Boudinot, 


NEW    YORK    BALLS    AND    RECEPTIONS.       /$ 

chairman  of  the  committee  of  Congress, 
in  a  description  of  this  ball  sent  to  his 
wife  in  Philadelphia,  speaks  of  these  rep 
resentatives  of  the  allied  powers  entering 
the  room,  two  by  two,  and  engaging  in 
what  he  ingeniously  calls  "  a  most  curious 
dance,  called  en  ballet,  to  show  the  happy 
union  between  the  two  nations."  * 

The  Comte  de  Moustier  had  succeeded 
Barbe-Marbois  as  French  minister  to  the 
United  States,  and  was  so  addicted  to 
entertaining  that  he  was  wont  to  say  that 
he  was  "but  a  tavern-keeper;"  adding, 
facetiously,  that  "  the  Americans  had  the 
complaisance  not  to  demand  his  recall."  f 
Of  the  new  ambassador  Mr.  Madison  wrote 
to  Mr.  Jefferson,  in  Paris,  "  It  is  with  much 
pleasure  I  inform  you  that  Moustier  begins 

*  See  Army  List,  1778. 

f  This  pleasantry  on  the  part  of  the  French  minister 
seems  to  have  been  taken  au  sbrieux  by  certain  writers 
as  pointing  to  some  obscurity  of  origin,  while  the  fact 
is  substantiated  by  various  authorities  that  El6onore- 
Francois-Elie,  Comte  de  Moustier,  entered  the  diplo 
matic  service  at  eighteen,  and  after  representing  his 
country  at  several  foreign  courts  was  twice  offered  the 
position  of  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs  by  Louis  XVI. 


/  THROUGH    COLONIAL    DOORWAYS. 

to  make  himself  acceptable ;  and  with  still 
more  that  Madame  Brehan  begins  to  be 
viewed  in  the  light  which  I  hope  she 
merits."  This  lady  was  Anne-Flore  Mil 
let,  Marquise  de  Brehan,  a  sister  of  the 
Comte  de  Moustier,  who  assisted  him  in 
doing  the  honors  of  his  house.  She  is 
described  as  a  singular,  whimsical  old 
woman,  who  delighted  in  playing  with 
a  negro  child  and  caressing  a  monkey. 
With  all  her  eccentricities,  she  seems  to 
have  been  possessed  of  some  talent  and 
considerable  skill  as  an  artist,  as  she  not 
only  executed  several  portraits  of  Wash 
ington,  but  achieved  a  feat  known  to  few 
portrait-painters,  that  of  pleasing  the  sitter 
himself. 

About  a  week  before  the  Comte  de 
Moustier's  entertainment,  the  inauguration 
ball  was  held,  and,  if  we  are  to  credit  con 
temporaneous  gossip,  was  a  very  grand 
and  imposing  function.  Although  those 
were  days  of  stage-coaching  and  slow 
travel,  a  number  of  visitors  from  other 
cities  were  in  New  York,  as  appears  from 
a  letter  written  by  Miss  Bertha  Ingersoll, 


NEW  YORK  BALLS  AND  RECEPTIONS.   // 

from  the  scene  of  the  festivities,  to  Miss 
Sallie  McKean  in  Philadelphia. 

"We  shall  remain  here,"  she  writes,  "even  if  we 
have  to  sleep  in  tents,  as  so  many  will  have  to  do.  Mr. 
Williamson  had  promised  to  engage  us  rooms  at  Fraun- 
cis's,  but  that  was  jammed  long  ago,  as  was  every  other 
decent  public  house,  and  now  while  we  are  waiting  at 
Mrs.  Vandervoort's,  in  Maiden  Lane,  till  after  dinner,  two 
of  our  beaux  are  running  about  town  determined  to  obtain 
the  best  places  for  us  to  stay  at  which  can  be  opened  for 
love  or  money  or  the  most  persuasive  speeches." 

Mrs.  Washington  was  still  at  Mount 
Vernon  on  the  7th  of  May,  the  date  of 
the  inauguration  ball,*  consequently  the 
story  of  a  sofa  raised  some  steps  above 
the  floor  of  the  ball-room  for  the  accom 
modation  of  the  President  and  his  wife 
during  the  dancing  is  quite  without  founda 
tion,  as  is  the  equally  absurd  story  of  portly 
Mrs.  Knox  pushing  her  way  up  to  this 
circle  and  having  to  descend  suddenly 
from  her  elevated  position  because  there 
was  no  room  for  her  on  the  platform. 
Even  if  there  was  no  dais  for  the  President 
and  his  wife,  there  was  no  lack  of  form 

*  United  States  Gazette,  May  9,  1789. 


78        THROUGH    COLONIAL    DOORWAYS. 

and  ceremony  at  this  Republican  enter 
tainment,  where  the  men  all  wore  the  small 
clothes  of  the  day,  which  so  well  became 
their  stately  proportions,  and  where,  says 
Huntingdon,  many  powdered  heads  were 
still  to  be  seen,  among  men  as  well  as 
women.  The  President's  costume  on  such 
occasions  was  a  full  suit  of  black  velvet, 
with  long  black  silk  stockings,  white  vest, 
silver  knee-  and  shoe-buckles,  the  hair  be 
ing  powdered  and  gathered  together  at  the 
back  in  a  black  silk  bag  tied  with  a  bow  of 
black  ribbon.  He  wore  a  light  dress  sword, 
with  a  richly-ornamented  hilt,  and  often 
carried  in  his  hand  a  cocked  hat,  decorated 
with  the  American  cockade.  The  Vice- 
President,  John  Adams,  wore  a  full  suit  of 
drab,  with  bag-wig  and  wrist-ruffles.  The 
gentlemen's  laces  seem  to  have  rivalled 
those  of  the  ladies,  although  in  their  cos 
tumes  rich  silks,  satins,  and  brocades  had 
begun  to  give  place  to  cloth  of  various 
colors,  as  if  to  forecast  the  less  ornate 
masculine  costume  of  later  date. 

"  The  collection  of  ladies"  at  this  ball, 
writes   a  contemporary,  "  was   numerous 


NEW  YORK  BALLS  AND  RECEPTIONS.   79 

and  brilliant,  and  they  were  dressed  with 
consummate  taste  and  elegance.  The  num 
ber  of  persons  present  was  upwards  of 
three  hundred,  and  satisfaction,  vivacity, 
and  delight  beamed  from  every  counte 
nance."  Colonel  William  Leet  Stone,  of 
New  York,  thus  describes  one  of  the  cos 
tumes  :  "  It  was  a  plain  celestial  blue  satin 
gown,  with  a  white  satin  petticoat.  On 
the  neck  was  worn  a  very  large  Italian 
gauze  handkerchief,  with  border  stripes  of 
satin.  The  head-dress  was  a  pouf  of  satin 
in  the  form  of  a  globe,  the  creneaux  or 
head-piece  of  which  was  composed  of 
white  satin,  having  a  double  wing  in  large 
pleats  and  trimmed  with  a  wreath  of  artifi 
cial  roses.  The  hair  was  dressed  all  over  in 
detached  curls,  four  of  which  in  two  ranks 
fell  on  each  side  of  the  neck  and  were 
relieved  behind  by  a  floating  chignon." 
We  have  Colonel  Stone's  word  for  it  that 
this  was  an  attractive  costume,  although  the 
description  does  not  sound  so  to  modern 
ears,  especially  with  the  heavy  head  deco 
rations.  It  appears,  however,  that  the 
ladies  of  the  first  administration-had  made 


80        THROUGH    COLONIAL    DOORWAYS. 

one  important  departure,  for  which  thanks 
givings  should  have  been  devoutly  uttered. 
They  had  by  this  time  renounced  the  un 
gainly  head-dress  that  had  reared  its  pyr 
amid  skyward  for  some  years,  and  which, 
accompanied  as  it  was  with  scant  drapery 
about  the  shoulders  and  bust,  had  led 
some  wit  of  the  day  to  accuse  the  fair 
ones  of  robbing  their  breasts  of  gauze, 
cambric,  and  muslin  for  the  use  of  their 
heads,  while  another  satirist  wrote, — 

"  Give  Chloe  a  bushel  of  horse-hair  and  wool, 

Of  paste  and  pomatum  a  pound ; 
Ten  yards  of  gay  ribbon  to  deck  her  sweet  skull, 
And  gauze  to  encompass  it  round." 

Perhaps  some  such  witticisms  as  these 
had  led  to  the  change  of  fashion  ;  or,  more 
likely,  a  little  bird  from  France  had  whis 
pered  in  the  ladies'  ears  that  the  mighty 
pyramid  had  fallen  there.  From  what 
ever  cause,  the  structure  of  hair,  flowers, 
feathers,  and  jewels  no  longer  reared  its 
imposing  pinnacle  above  the  brow  of 
beauty,  and  many  of  the  Stuart,  Malbone, 
Trumbull,  and  Copley  paintings  of  women 


NEW  YORK  BALLS  AND  RECEPTIONS.   8 1 

of  this  period  represent  the  hair  dressed 
low,  with  curls  and  bandeaux  a  la  Grecque 
or  rolled  moderately  high  a  la  Pompadour. 
In  one  of  the  journals  of  the  day  we 
read  that 

"  On  Thursday  evening,  the  subscribers  of  the  Dancing 
Assembly,  gave  an  elegant  Ball  and  Entertainment.  The 
President  of  the  United  States,  was  pleased  to  honor  the 
company  with  his  presence — His  Excellency  the  Vice 
President— most  of  the  members  of  both  Houses  of 
Congress — His  Excellency  the  Governor  [Clinton]  and 
a  great  many  other  dignified  public  characters:  His 
Excellency  Count  de  Moustier — His  Most  Christian 
Majesty's  Ambassador — The  Baron  Steuben,  and  other 
foreigners  of  distinction  were  present,  as  well  as  the 
most  beautiful  ladies  of  New  York."  * 

Among  these  were  the  Misses  Living 
ston,  one  of  whom  married  Mr.  Ridley,  of 

*  It  is  interesting  to  turn  from  these  Republican  festivi 
ties  to  read  in  the  journal  of  a  Moravian  minister,  written 
in  New  York  during  the  occupation  of  the  British,  of 
King's  and  Queen's  "Birthnight  Balls,"  "Coronation 
Day"  celebrations,  and  rejoicings  over  the  arrival  of 
"  His  Royal  Highness,  Prince  William  Henry,  the  third 
son  of  our  dear  King,  an  amiable  young  Prince,  who 
gave  satisfaction  to  all  who  saw  him." — Diary  of  Ewala 
Gustav  Schaukirk. 
f 


82         THROUGH    COLONIAL    DOORWAYS. 

Baltimore,  the  Misses  Van  Home, "  avowed 
Whigs,"  says  Graydon,  "  notwithstanding 
their  civility  to  the  British  officers,"  and 
the  Misses  White,  who  lived  on  Wall  Street 
near  Broadway,  to  one  of  whom  was  ad 
dressed  the  following  epigram  by  a  beau 
of  the  period  named  Brown  : 

"  My  lovely  maid,  I've  often  thought 
Whether  thy  name  be  just  or  not ; 
Thy  bosom  is  as  cold  as  snow, 
Which  we  for  matchless  white  may  show ; 
But  when  thy  beauteous  face  is  seen, 
Thou'rt  of  brunettes  the  charming  queen. 
Resolve  our  doubts  :  let  it  be  known 
Thou  rather  art  inclined  to  Brown" 

It  is  evident  that  this  fair  White  did  not 
permanently  incline  to  Brown,  as  one  sister 
became  Lady  Hayes,  and  the  other  married 
one  of  the  Monroes.  Here  also,  in  goodly 
array,  were  Osgoods,  Philipses,  Ruther- 
furds,  Van  Cortlandts,  Van  Zandts,  Clintons, 
Montgomerys,  De  Lanceys,  De  Peysters, 
Kissams,  Bleeckers,  Clarksons,  Verplancks, 
Schuylers,  Van  Rensselaers,  and  Macombs. 
How  the  old  names  repeat  themselves  in 
the  social  life  of  to-day !  Prominent  in 


NEW   YORK    BALLS    AND    RECEPTIONS.       83 

these  inaugural  festivities  were  the  Living 
stons  of  Clermont,  Chief  Justice  Yates,  of 
New  York,  the  handsome  soldierly  figure 
of  Morgan  Lewis,  Grand  Marshal  of  the 
Inauguration  ceremonies,  Mrs.  Dominick 
Lynch,  Mrs.  Edgar,  Mrs.  Provoost,  Lady 
Stirling,  and  her  two  daughters,  Lady  Mary 
Watts  and  Lady  Kitty  Duer.  We  learn 
that  their  aunt,  Mrs.  Peter  Van  Brugh 
Livingston,  had  the  honor  of  dancing  a 
cotillon  with  the  President,  who  opened 
the  ball  with  the  wife  of  the  Mayor  of 
New  York,  Mrs.  James  Duane.  He  also 
danced  in  the  minuet  with  Mrs.  James 
Homer  Maxwell,  with  whom  as  Miss 
Catharine  Van  Zandt  he  had  repeatedly 
danced  while  the  army  was  quartered  at 
Morristown.  When  Washington  entered 
the  lists,  dancing  seemed  to  be  elevated  to 
the  dignity  of  a  function  of  the  state,  and 
in  proof  of  the  grace  with  which  his  Ex 
cellency  could  tread  a  measure  it  is  related 
that  a  French  gentleman,  after  observing 
him  in  the  dance,  paid  him  the  high  com 
pliment  of  saying  that  a  Parisian  education 
could  not  have  rendered  his  execution 


84        THROUGH    COLONIAL    DOORWAYS. 

more  admirable.  Mrs.  James  Beekman,* 
born  Jane  Keteletas,  was  the  belle  of  the 
de  Moustier  ball,  a  week  later,  and  gazing 
upon  her  serene  face,  framed  in  by  a  little 
cap  of  gauze  and  ribbon,  that  would  have 
been  trying  to  features  less  perfect,  we  can 
readily  believe  that  she  also  occupied  a 
prominent  place  in  the  inaugural  festivities. 
Mrs.  William  Smith,  who  had  returned 
from  London,  where  her  husband  was 
Secretary  of  the  American  legation,  was 
present,  as  was  also  Lady  Temple,  the 
American  wife  of  Sir  John  Temple,  British 
Consul-General,  whom  the  Marquis  de 
Chastellux  found  so  distinguished  that  it 


*  '*  The  old  Beekman  house,  built  by  James  Beekman, 
and  standing  three  miles  from  the  City  Hall  in  New 
York,  was  the  scene  of  a  number  of  interesting  events. 
During  the  British  possession  of  the  city  it  was  occupied 
by  the  commander-in-chief  of  their  army,  and  one  room 
at  the  head  of  a  flight  of  stairs  was  occupied  by  Major 
Andre  the  night  before  proceeding  up  the  river  on  his 
ill-fated  expedition  to  West  Point,  while  (strange  provi 
dence)  but  a  few  yards  distant  still  stands  [1848]  the 
green  house  where  Captain  Nathan  Hale,  of  the  Ameri 
can  army,  received  his  trial  and  condemnation  as  a  spy," 
—JEROME  B.  HOLGATE. 


NEW    YORK    BALLS    AND    RECEPTIONS.       85 

was  unnecessary  to  pronounce  her  beauti 
ful  Her  husband,  Sir  John,  took  upon 
himself  "  singular  airs,"  says  Mrs.  William 
Smith,  and  this  spirited  little  woman  de 
clined  to  visit  my  lady  because  she  did 
not  consider  that  Sir  John  treated  her 
spouse  with  proper  deference.  Lady  Chris 
tiana  Griffin,  the  Scotch  wife  of  Cyrus 
Griffin,  President  of  Congress,  was  also 
one  of  the  guests  of  the  evening. 

Among  New  York  women  whose  hus 
bands  held  high  positions  were  Mrs.  Alex 
ander  Hamilton ;  Mrs.  Ralph  Izard,  wife 
of  the  Senator  from  South  Carolina,  whose 
surname  furnished  Mrs.  Bache  a  peg  on 
which  to  hang  her  bon-mot  about  know 
ing  everything  South  Carolinian  from  B  * 
to  Z  (izzard) ;  Mrs.  Robert  R.  Livingston, 
the  daughter  of  Colonel  Henry  Beekman, 
whose  husband  had  a  week  earlier  ad 
ministered  the  oath  of  office  to  the  Presi 
dent  ;  Mrs.  King,  born  Mary  Alsop,  of 
whose  marriage  to  Rufus  King  John  Adams 
speaks  as  "  additional  bonds  to  cement  the 

*  Evidently  referring  to  the  Bee  family  of  S.  C. 
8 


86         THROUGH    COLONIAL    DOORWAYS. 

love  between  New  York  and  old  Massa 
chusetts  ;"  and  Mrs.  Elbridge  Gerry,  wife 
of  the  Senator  from  Massachusetts.  The 
Rev.  Manasseh  Cutler  visited  the  Gerrys 
when  they  were  living  in  Philadelphia,  and 
speaks  of  the  beauty  and  accomplishments 
of  the  New  York  lady.  He  expressed  to 
her  his  surprise  that  Philadelphia  ladies 
rose  so  early,  saying  that  he  saw  them  at 
breakfast  at  half-past  five,  when  in  Boston 
they  could  hardly  see  a  breakfast-table 
before  nine  without  falling  into  hysterics. 
To  which  Mrs.  Gerry  replied  that  she  had 
become  inured  to  early  rising  and  found  it 
conducive  to  her  health. 

Stately  courtesy  and  dignity,  combined 
with  a  certain  simplicity  begotten  of  pioneer 
living  in  a  new  country,  seem  to  have  been 
the  distinguishing  characteristics  of  this 
old-time  society,  and  of  the  couple  who 
presided  over  it  and  knew  so  well  how  to 
balance  the  functions  of  public  office  with 
the  sacred  demands  of  home  life. 

In  days  of  retirement  at  Mount  Vernon, 
when  engaged  in  instructing  her  maidens, 
or  in  household  pursuits,  Mrs.  Washington 


NEW    YORK    BALLS    AND    RECEPTIONS.       8/ 

was  always  simply  attired,  and  in  cloth  of 
home  manufacture.  She  could,  however, 
on  occasions  of  state  appear  in  rich  cos 
tumes  of  satin,  velvet,  and  lace,  while  the 
President,  although  appearing  at  the  in 
augural  ceremonies  in  a  suit  of  cloth  of 
American  manufacture,  on  festal  occa 
sions  donned  the  velvet  and  satin  that  so 
well  became  him.  With  his  republicanism 
in  national  affairs,  it  is  evident  that  Wash 
ington  inclined  more  to  the  state  and  cere 
mony  of  Old-World  courts  than  to  the 
extreme,  almost  bald,  simplicity  that  came 
in  with  a  later  administration.  The  state 
ment  of  that  unknown  "  Virginia  colonel" 
who  said  that  General  Washington's  "bows 
were  more  distant  and  stiff  than  anything 
he  had  seen  at  St.  James's"  savors  of  prob 
ability,  although  disputed  by  some  of  his 
contemporaries,  and  Mr.  Breck  tells  us 
that  the  President  "  had  a  stud  of  twelve 
or  fourteen  horses,  and  occasionally  rode 
out  to  take  the  air  with  six  horses  to  his 
coach,  and  always  two  footmen  behind  his 
carriage ;"  adding,  "  He  knew  how  to  main 
tain  the  dignity  of  his  station.  None  of 


88         THROUGH    COLONIAL    DOORWAYS. 

his  successors,  except  the  elder  Adams,  has 
placed  a  proper  value  on  a  certain  degree 
of  display  that  seems  suitable  for  the  chief 
magistrate  of  a  great  nation.  I  do  not 
mean  pageantry,  but  the  decent  exterior 
of  a  well-bred  gentleman."  A  President 
who  thus  realized  all  the  dignity  that  his 
office  implied  naturally  introduced  a  cer 
tain  amount  of  form  and  ceremony  into  the 
social  life  of  the  capital,  and  when  Mrs. 
Washington  came  from  Mount  Vernon,  on 
the  27th  of  May,  receptions  were  held  at 
the  old  Franklin  house  on  Cherry  Street, 
whose  like,  for  a  certain  state  and  fine 
aroma  of  old-time  courtesy,  we  shall  never 
see  again.  Those  who,  "  with  the  earliest 
attention  and  respect,  paid  their  devoirs  to 
the  amiable  consort  of  our  beloved  Presi 
dent  were,"  says  one  of  the  newspapers  of 
the  time,  "the  Ladies  of  the  Most  Hon. 
Mr.  Langdon  [State  Senator  from  New 
Hampshire]  and  the  Most  Hon.  Mr.  Dai- 
ton,  the  Mayoress  [Mrs.  James  Duane], 
Mrs.  Livingston  of  Clermont,  Mrs.  Chan 
cellor  Livingston,  Mrs.  Montgomery,  Mrs. 
McComb,  Mrs.  Lynch,  the  Misses  Bayard, 


NEW    YORK    BALLS    AND    RECEPTIONS.      89 

and  a  great  number  of  other  respectable 
characters.  Mrs.  Washington  from  Phila 
delphia  was  accompanied  by  the  Lady  of 
Mr.  Robert  Morris."  We  also  learn  that 
the  President  met  his  wife  at  Trenton,  and 
that  with  a  gayly-decorated  and  well- 
manned  barge  she  made  her  journey  to 
the  seat  of  government. 

Although  we  are  not  disposed  to  agree 
with  the  Chevalier  de  Crevecceur,  that  "  if 
there  is  a  town  on  the  American  continent 
where  English  luxury  displayed  its  follies, 
it  was  in  New  York,"  Philadelphia,  with 
Mrs.  William  Bingham  as  its  social  leader, 
having  continued  to  assert  its  supremacy 
in  this  line,  we  are  willing  to  believe  that 
there  was  a  fair  amount  of  both  folly  and 
luxury  in  the  national  capital.  This  gen 
tleman,  Saint-John  de  Crevecceur,  some 
time  Consul-General  at  New  York,  was 
probably  surprised  to  find  anything  ap 
proaching  civilization  in  this  city  and 
country,  as  he  exclaims,  "  You  will  find 
here  the  English  fashions.  In  the  dress 
of  the  women  you  will  see  the  most  bril 
liant  silks,  gauzes,  hats,  and  borrowed 
8* 


9O        THROUGH    COLONIAL    DOORWAYS. 

hair."  It  is  amusing,  in  this  connection, 
to  note  the  French  gentleman's  ideal  of 
what  a  woman  should  be.  He  happened 
to  be  looking  for  a  wife  himself  just  then, 
and,  like  Solomon's  perfect  woman,  she 
was  expected  to  look  well  to  the  ways  of 
her  household,  to  be  skilled  in  the  spinning 
of  flax  and  the  making  of  cheese  and  but 
ter,  and  withal  she  was  to  have  her  mind 
cultivated  a  little,  just  enough  to  enable 
her  to  enjoy  reading  with  her  husband. 

Mrs.  William  Smith,  a  less  prejudiced 
observer  than  M.  de  Crevecceur,  in  writing 
to  her  mother  of  a  dinner  at  Chief  Justice 
Jay's  which  was  served  a  la  mode  frangaise, 
says  that  there  was  more  fashion  and  state 
in  New  York  than  she  would  fancy.  Bris- 
sot  de  Warville  speaks  of  another  dinner, 
this  one  at  the  house  of  Cyrus  Griffin, 
at  which  seven  or  eight  women  appeared 
dressed  in  great  hats  and  plumes.  If  the 
hats  were  as  graceful  and  becoming  as 
that  worn  by  Mrs.  John  Jay  in  her  portrait 
by  Pine,  we  have  no  word  of  censure  for 
those  old-time  beauties,  although  a  plumed 
hat  does  seem  a  rather  peculiar  finish  to 


NEW  YORK  BALLS  AND  RECEPTIONS.   9! 

a  dinner  costume,  almost  as  odd  as  Mrs. 
William  Smith's  elbow-sleeves,  bare  arms, 
and  muff. 

At  her  formal  receptions,  which  Mr. 
Daniel  Huntingdon  has  represented  in  his 
famous  picture,  Mrs.  Washington  stood 
with  the  Cabinet  ladies  around  her,  stately 
Mrs.  Robert  Morris  by  her  side,  herself 
the  stateliest  figure  in  the  group.  The 
President  passed  from  guest  to  guest,  ex 
changing  a  word  with  one  and  another, 
and  pleasing  all  by  the  fine  courtesy  of 
his  manner.  The  lovely  ladies  and  the 
dignified  gentlemen,  many  of  the  latter 
with  powdered  heads  and  bag-wigs,  like  his 
Excellency,  trooped  up  by  twos  and  threes 
to  pay  their  respects  to  the  first  lady  in 
the  land.  If  around  the  Chief  Magistrate 
were  gathered  the  great  men  of  the  nation, 
those  who,  like  John  Adams,  Robert  Mor 
ris,  Alexander  Hamilton,  and  John  Jay, 
had  already  impressed  themselves  deeply 
upon  the  past,  and  in  connection  with  such 
younger  minds  as  those  of  James  Madison, 
Rufus  King,  Elbridge  Gerry,  and  Oliver 
Ellsworth,  the  Cerberus  of  the  Treasury, 


92        THROUGH    COLONIAL    DOORWAYS. 

were  destined  to  outline  the  serener  his 
tory  of  the  future,  Mrs.  Washington  num 
bered  in  her  Republican  Court  the  noblest 
and  most  beautiful  women  in  the  land. 
Among  these  were  many  who,  like  her, 
had  shared  with  their  husbands  the  anx 
ieties  of  the  Revolutionary  period, — nota 
bly,  Mrs.  General  Knox,  Mrs.  Robert 
Morris,  and  Mrs.  Adams, —  while  in  a 
younger  group  were  Mrs.  Rufus  King, 
who  is  described  as  singularly  handsome, 
Mrs.  Gerry,  Mrs.  George  Clinton,  Mrs. 
William  Smith,  John  Adams's  daughter, 
Mrs.  Walter  Livingston,  whom  General 
Washington  had  once  entertained,  in  rustic 
style,  when  encamped  near  New  York,  and, 
not  the  least  attractive  among  these  lovely 
dames,  Mrs.  John  Jay,  a  daughter  of  Gov 
ernor  Livingston,  who  shared  with  Mrs. 
William  Bingham,  of  Philadelphia,  the  dis 
tinction  of  being  called  the  most  beautiful 
and  charming  woman  in  America.  Honors 
seem  to  have  been  easy  between  these  two 
high-born  dames,  as  both  were  beloved, 
admired,  and  feted  at  home  and  abroad. 
The  Marquise  de  Lafayette,  who  enter- 


NEW  YORK  BALLS  AND  RECEPTIONS.   93 

tained  a  warm  friendship  for  Mrs.  Jay,  said, 
with  charming  simplicity,  that  "  Mrs.  Jay 
and  she  thought  alike,  that  pleasure  might 
be  found  abroad,  but  happiness  only  at 
home."  All  of  Mrs.  Jay's  portraits  repre 
sent  a  face  of  such  exquisite  beauty  that 
it  is  not  difficult  to  imagine  the  furore  she 
created  at  foreign  and  Republican  courts. 
Does  there  not  seem  to  have  been  an 
indefinable  charm  of  exquisiteness  and  dig 
nity  about  these  old-time  dames,  like  the 
fragrance  that  surrounds  some  fine  and 
stately  exotic  ?  They  had  abundant  leisure 
to  make  their  daily  sacrifice  to  the  graces, 
and  they  always  appear  before  us  in  full 
toilette, — hair  rolled  or  curled,  slippers  high 
of  heel,  and  gown  of  stiff  brocade  or  satin. 
We  never  catch  these  fair  ladies  en  desha 
bille,  nor  do  we  desire  to  do  so;  their  charm 
would  as  surely  vanish  before  the  inglorious 
ease  of  a  loose  morning  gown  and  roomy 
slippers  as  does  that  of  an  American  In 
dian  when  he  divests  himself  of  his  war 
paint  and  feathers.  We  read  with  equa 
nimity  of  some  of  the  belles  of  the  period 
sitting  all  night  with  their  pyramidal  heads 


94        THROUGH    COLONIAL    DOORWAYS. 

propped  up  against  pillows,  because  the 
hair-dresser  could  not  make  his  round 
without  attending  to  some  heads  the  night 
before  the  ball.  This  was  "  souffrir  pour 
etre  belle"  with  a  vengeance;  yet,  deeming 
it  all  in  keeping  with  their  stately  elegance, 
for  which  they  had  to  pay  a  price,  we  never 
stop  to  think  of  how  their  poor  necks 
must  have  ached,  choosing  rather  to  dwell 
upon  their  triumphs  when  they  entered 
the  ball-room.  We  can  hear  Mr.  Swan- 
wick,  or  some  other  poet  of  the  day,  pay 
them  the  most  extravagant  compliments, 
while  lamenting  the  void  left  by  the  absence 
of  another  fair  one : 

"  Say  why,  amid  the  splendid  rows 
Of  graceful  belles  and  polish' d  beaux, 

Does  not  Markoe  appear? 
Has  some  intrusive  pain  dismay'd 
From  festive  scenes  the  lov'ly  maid, 
Or  does  she  illness  fear?" 

Is  it  possible  that  Markoe  could  not  get 
her  head  dressed  in  time,  and  thus  missed 
the  ball?  We  wonder,  and,  wondering, 
lavish  so  much  sympathy  upon  her  for  the 


NEW    YORK    BALLS    AND    RECEPTIONS.      95 

pleasure  she  has  lost  that  we  forget  to 
moralize  upon  the  impropriety  of  Mr. 
Swanwick's  paying  such  exaggerated  com 
pliments,  which  would  turn  the  head  of 
any  girl  of  to-day.  We  of  this  generation 
reverse  the  order  of  nature;  like  doting 
grandparents  we  enjoy  the  picturesque 
beauty  of  these  stately  ancestors,  and,  with 
never  a  thought  of  their  higher  good,  re 
tail  their  triumphs  with  enthusiasm,  wish 
ing  that  for  one  brief  moment  we  could 
turn  back  and  feel  what  they  felt  when 
their  world  was  at  their  feet.  It  was  a 
very  small  world,  according  to  our  ideas, 
but  it  was  the  largest  that  they  knew,  and 
it  was  all  their  own. 

What  a  gay  pageant  that  old  social  life 
seems  as  it  passes  before  us !  We  almost 
forget  that  the  picture  is  limned  against 
the  stern  background  of  war,  for  it  is  one 
in  which  the  shadows  have  all  faded  out, 
leaving  only  the  bright  colors  upon  the 
canvas.  Let  it  remain  so.  Why  should 
we  weep  over  sorrows  so  long  past?  The 
sting  has  all  gone  from  them,  and  surely 
there  can  no  harm  come  to  this  genera- 


96        THROUGH    COLONIAL    DOORWAYS. 

tion  from  dwelling  upon  the  beauty  and 
grace  of  those  fair  ladies,  who  ruled  soci 
ety  in  New  York  a  hundred  years  ago,  or 
upon  the  bravery  and  strength  of  the 
noble  men  who  gathered  around  them. 
Sic  transit  gloria  tnundi !  cries  the  mor 
alist;  but  the  glory  has  not  all  passed 
away,  as  is  proved  by  our  lingering  over 
it  now,  nor  need  it  be  quite  effaced  from 
the  gay  life  of  to-day,  if  hearts  still  beat 
as  true  under  silk  and  broadcloth  as  did 
those  of  the  fathers  and  mothers  of  the 
Republic  beneath  brocaded  bodices  and 
satin  waistcoats. 


THE 

AMERICAN  PHILOSOPHICAL 
SOCIETY 


N  none  of  his  schemes  and  foun 
dations  did  Dr.  Franklin  more 
signally  display  the  breadth 
and  catholicity  of  his  mind  than 
in  his  plan  for  the  establishment, 
in  the  New  World,  of  an  association  for 
the  general  diffusion  of  useful  knowledge, 
to  which  the  Old  World  should  be  tribu 
tary,  and  from  which  it  should  in  time  be 
recipient.  With  this  end  in  view,  he,  in 
1743,  issued  a  proposal  for  the  organiza 
tion  and  government  of  an  American  Phil 
osophical  Society,  whose  object  was  to 
bring  into  correspondence  with  a  central 
association  in  Philadelphia  all  scientists, 
E  g  9  97 


98        THROUGH    COLONIAL    DOORWAYS. 

philosophers,  and  inventors,  on  this  con 
tinent  and  in  Europe.  Bold  as  was  this 
scheme  in  its  breadth  and  reach,  in  its 
smaller  details  it  was  marked  by  the 
practical  characteristics  of  the  projector. 
The  Hamiltons  and  Franklins  might 
"  dream  dreams  and  see  visions"  to  the 
end  of  the  chapter ;  but  they  would  have 
framed  no  governments,  or  have  founded 
no  learned  institutions  destined  to  outlast 
the  centuries,  had  not  their  ideality  been 
well  balanced  by  the  strong  common  sense 
that  Guizot  calls  "  the  genius  of  humanity." 
It  was  this  union  of  the  ideal  and  the  prac 
tical  that  caused  Franklin  to  be  so  appre 
ciated  by  the  French.  Mirabeau  named 
him  "  the  sage  of  two  worlds,"  with  a 
larger  grasp  of  thought  than  that  of  our 
own  day,  when  he  is  still  claimed,  like  the 
debatable  baby  brought  to  King  Solomon, 
by  two  cities, — by  Boston,  in  which  he 
first  saw  the  light,  and  by  Philadelphia,  in 
which  he  disseminated  it  so  liberally. 

Although  there  is  a  vast  amount  of 
documentary  evidence  to  prove  that  the 
American  Philosophical  Society  was  the 


AMERICAN    PHILOSOPHICAL    SOCIETY.       99 

direct  outcome  of  Franklin's  proposal  of 
1743,  and  that  before  the  breaking  out  of 
the  war  with  Great  Britain  it  was  an  active 
and  useful  organization,  having  a  large 
native  and  foreign  membership,  two  of 
Dr.  Franklin's  biographers  have  done  but 
scant  justice  to  his  work  in  this  direction. 
Professor  McMaster,  in  his  recent  interest 
ing  life  of  Franklin  as  a  man  of  letters, 
dismisses  his  proposal  to  establish  such 
a  society  as  a  failure  ;*  while  Mr.  Parton, 
after  mentioning  the  fact  of  Franklin  having 
founded  the  Philosophical  Society,  in  ac 
cordance  with  his  proposal  of  1743,  adds, 
"  The  society  was  formed,  and  continued 
in  existence  for  some  years.  Neverthe 
less,  its  success  was  neither  great  nor  per 
manent,  for  at  that  day  the.  circle  of  men 
capable  of  taking  much^interest  in  science 
was  too  limited  for  the  proper  support  of 
such  an  organization."  f 

As  both  of  these  historians  mention  the 

*  Benjamin  Franklin  as  a  Man  of  Letters,  by  John 
Bach  McMaster,  p.  137. 

|  Life  of  Benjamin  Franklin,  by  James  Parton,  vol.  i. 
p.  263. 


IOO     THROUGH    COLONIAL    DOORWAYS. 

Philosophical  Society  later,  and  Mr.  Parton 
at  some  length  in  his  Life  of  Jefferson,  it 
is  probable  that  they  did  not  consider  that 
this  early  society  was  identical  with  that 
which  in  1767  took  a  fresh  start,  elected  a 
number  of  influential  members,  and  made 
for  itself  an  enviable  reputation  in  Europe 
and  America,  in  the  latter  years  of  the 
century.  Sparks  and  Bigelow,  however, 
take  what  is,  according  to  the  historian 
of  the  society,  Dr.  Robert  M.  Patterson,  a 
true  view  of  the  case,  tracing  it  back,  a 
continuous  organization,  to  the  proposal 
of  Dr.  Franklin  issued  in  1743.  Indeed, 
they  carry  it  back  even  further  than  this 
period,  deriving  it  primarily  from  the  old 
Junto  of  1 727.  After  describing  the  work 
ings  of  the  Junto,  or  Leather  Apron  So 
ciety,  formed  from  among  Franklin's  "  in 
genious  acquaintance,"  a  sort  of  debating 
club  of  clever  young  men,  Jared  Sparks 
says,  "  Forty  years  after  its  establishment, 
it  became  the  basis  of  the  American  Phil 
osophical  Society,  of  which  Franklin  was 
the  first  president,  and  the  published  Trans 
actions  of  which  have  contributed  to  the 


AMERICAN    PHILOSOPHICAL    SOCIETY.        IOI 

advancement  of  science  and  the  diffusion 
of  valuable  knowledge  in  the  United 
States."  *  As  most  of  Franklin's  projects 
were  discussed  in  the  congenial  circle  that 
composed  the  Junto,  this  statement  does 
not  conflict  with  that  of  Dr.  Patterson. 

Dr.  Franklin,  in  his  proposal,  gave  a 
list  of  the  subjects  that  were  to  claim  the 
attention  of  these  New  World  philosophers. 
It  included  "  investigations  in  botany ;  in 
medicine ;  in  mineralogy  and  mining ;  in 
chemistry ;  in  mechanics ;  in  arts,  trades, 
and  manufactures ;  in  geography  and  to 
pography  ;  in  agriculture  ;"  and,  lest  some 
thing  should  have  been  left  out  of  this 
rather  comprehensive  list  of  subjects,  it  was 
added  that  the  association  should  "  give 
its  attention  to  all  philosophical  experi 
ments  that  let  light  into  the  nature  of 
things,  tend  to  increase  the  power  of  man 
over  matter,  and  multiply  the  conveniences 
or  pleasures  of  life."  The  duties  of  the  sec 
retary  of  the  society  were  laid  down,  and 
were  especially  arduous,  including  much 

*  Works  of  Franklin,  by  Jared  Sparks,  vol.  ii.  p.  9. 
9* 


IO2     THROUGH    COLONIAL    DOORWAYS. 

foreign  correspondence,  in  addition  to  the 
correcting,  abstracting,  and  methodizing 
of  such  papers  as  required  it.  This  office 
Dr.  Franklin  took  upon  himself,  saying, 
with  a  touch  of  modesty  that  seems  a 
trifle  strained,  that  he  "  would  be  secretary 
until  they  should  be  provided  with  one 
more  capable."  He,  however,  tells  us  in 
the  Autobiography  that  he  one  day  added 
humility  to  his  list  of  virtues  at  the  sug 
gestion  of  a  Quaker  friend,  and  this  form 
of  expression  may  have  been  one  of  his 
self-imposed  exercises. 

The  Philosophical  Society,  once  estab 
lished,  was  destined  to  exert  an  important 
influence  on  American  science,  life,  and 
letters.  Among  its  members  were  literary 
men,  statesmen,  and  artists,  as  well  as 
scientists  and  inventors.  Before  its  meet 
ings  were  read  learned  papers  on  govern 
ment,  history,  education,  philanthropy, 
politics,  religion,  worship,  above  all,  on 
common  sense :  these  in  addition  to  the 
numerous  scientific  papers,  read  and  com 
municated,  while  among  its  eulogiums  and 
oraisons  funebres,  pronounced  upon  de- 


AMERICAN    PHILOSOPHICAL    SOCIETY.       1 03 

ceased  members,  are  to  be  found  composi 
tions  worthy  of  Bossuet. 

As  early  as  1769,  the  society  had  mem 
bers  in  the  different  colonies,  in  the  Bar- 
badoes,  in  Antigua,  in  Heidelberg  and 
Stockholm  ;  while  in  Edinburgh  the  dis 
tinguished  Dr.  William  Cullen  was  a  mem 
ber,  in  London  Dr.  John  Fothergill,  and 
in  Paris  the  learned  Count  de  Buffon.  At 
home  it  numbered  such  men  as  Francis 
Hopkinson,  statesman  and  writer  of  prose 
and  poetry ;  Dr.  Phineas  Bond  and  his 
brother  Thomas,  both  original  members ; 
Dr.  Adam  Kuhn  and  Daniel  Dulany,  of 
Maryland.  Upon  these  early  lists  we  find 
Pierre  Eugene  du  Simitiere,  who  was  one 
of  the  committee  appointed  to  prepare  a 
design  for  a  national  seal ;  Benjamin  West ; 
John  Dickinson,  who  was  writing  his 
'  Farmer's  Letters,"  destined  to  make  him 
known  on  both  sides  of  the  sea ;  and  John 
Bartram,  botanist  to  his  majesty,  who 
planted  his  celebrated  botanical  garden 
near  Gray's  Ferry,  and  built  with  his  own 
hands  the  house,  above  the  study  window 
of  which  is  his  devout  confession  of  faith : 


IO4     THROUGH    COLONIAL    DOORWAYS. 

"  'Tis  GOD  ALONE,  ALMIGHTY  LORD, 
THE  HOLY  ONE,  BY  ME  ADORED. 

JOHN  BARTRAM,  1770." 

A  pioneer  in  this  field,  he  is  recognized  as 
the  greatest  of  American  botanists,  and, 
contrary  to  the  rule  generally  proved  by 
great  men's  sons,  had  the  satisfaction  of 
seeing  his  studies  successfully  prosecuted 
by  his  son,  William  Bartram,  who  also 
contributed  original  papers  to  the  society. 
Writing  in  1744  to  the  Honorable  Cad- 
wallader  Golden,  Lieutenant-Governor  of 
New  York,  a  distinguished  scientist  and 
original  worker  in  certain  lines,  Dr.  Frank 
lin  says, — 

"  Happening  to  be  in  this  City  about  some  particular 
Affairs,  I  have  the  Pleasure  of  receiving  yours  of  the 
28th  past,  here.  And  can  now  acquaint  you,  that  a 
Society,  as  far  as  relates  to  Philadelphia,  is  actually 
formed,  and  has  had  several  Meetings  to  mutual  Satis 
faction  ; — assoon  [sic"]  as  I  get  home,  I  shall  send  you  a 
short  Acct.  of  what  has  been  done  and  proposed  at 
these  meetings." 

Here  follows  a  list  of  members  from  Phila 
delphia,  New  York,  and  New  Jersey,  to 
which  the  writer  adds, — 


AMERICAN    PHILOSOPHICAL    SOCIETY.        IO5 

"  Mr.  Nicholls  tells  me  of  several  other  Gentlemen 
of  this  City  [New  York]  that  incline  to  encourage  the 
Thing. — There  are  a  Number  of  others  in  Virginia, 
Maryland,  Carolina,  and  the  New  England  States  who 
we  expect  to  join  us  assoon  [j/V]  as  they  are  acquainted 
that  the  Society  has  begun  to  form  itself.  I  am,  Sir, 
with  much  respect, 

"  Your  most  hume  sev* 

"B.  FRANKLIN."* 


The  Honorable  Cadwallader  Golden  was 
one  of  the  original  members  of  the  Amer 
ican  Philosophical  Society,  and  took  an 
active  interest  in  its  establishment  and  ad 
vance.  He  and  Dr.  Franklin  were  intimate 
friends,  and  in  the  habit  of  communicating 
to  each  other  their  scientific  discoveries. 
It  was  Dr.  Golden  who  introduced  into 
the  study  of  botany  in  America  the  system 
of  Linnaeus. 

One  of  the  founders  and  the  first  presi 
dent  of  this  society  was  Mr.  Thomas  Hop- 
kinson,  whom  Dr.  Franklin  called  his 
"  ingenious  friend,"  and  to  whom  he  ac 
knowledges  his  indebtedness  for  demon- 

*  Proceedings  of  the  American  Philosophical  Society, 
pp.  I,  2. 


IO6      THROUGH    COLONIAL    DOORWAYS. 

strating  "  the  power  of  points  to  throw  off 
the  electrical  fire."  Another  "  ingenious 
friend,"  to  whom  he  makes  no  profound 
acknowledgment,  was  the  Rev.  Ebenezer 
Kinnersley,  a  professor  in  the  College  of 
Philadelphia,  to  whom  it  is  now  generally 
conceded  that  Franklin  owed  much  of  his 
success  in  important  electrical  discoveries. 
Mr.  Parton  says  that,  in  1748,  "  Mr.  Kin 
nersley  contrived  the  amusing  experiment 
of  the  magical  picture.  A  figure  of  his 
majesty  King  George  II.  ('  God  preserve 
him,'  says  the  loyal  Franklin,  in  paren 
thesis,  when  telling  the  story)  was  so  ar 
ranged  that  any  one  who  attempted  to 
take  his  crown  from  his  head  received  a 
tremendous  shock."  By  this  clever  con 
trivance  Mr.  Kinnersley  proves  himself 
something  of  a  prophet  as  well  as  a  scien 
tist,  for  notwithstanding  the  violent  shock 
received  by  the  friends  of  royalty  in  the 
colonies,  a  few  years  later,  it  was  conclu 
sively  demonstrated  that  the  crown  could 
be  taken  off. 

In  drawing  up  rules  for  the  government 
of  the  Philosophical  Society,  Dr.  Franklin 


AMERICAN    PHILOSOPHICAL    SOCIETY.        ID? 

advises  that  correspondence  be  maintained 
not  only  between  the  central  organization 
and  its  members  in  the  different  colonies, 
but  with  the  Royal  Society  of  London  and 
the  Dublin  Society.  Thus  persons  residing 
in  remote  districts  of  the  United  States 
would  be  placed  in  direct  communication 
with  the  latest  discoveri^  of  Old  World 
scientists  in  all  their  lines  of  work.  What 
such  correspondence  meant  to  men  of 
intelligence,  living  far  from  the  centres  of 
education  and  enlightenment,  in  those  days 
of  few  books  and  fewer  magazines  and 
journals,  it  is  impossible  for  us  \o  imagine. 
Many  years  later,  when  the  French  bot 
anist,  Andre  Michaux,  was  appointed  by 
his  government  to  examine  the  trees  of 
this  continent,  with  a  view  to  their  intro 
duction  into  France,  he  carried  letters  from 
the  Philosophical  Society  to  one  of  its 
members,  living  in  Lexington,  Kentucky. 

"  During  my  stay  at  Lexington,"  Michaux  writes,  "  I 
frequently  saw  Dr.  Samuel  Brown,  from  Virginia,  a 
physician  of  the  College  of  Edinburgh,  and  a  member 
of  the  Philosophical  Society.  .  .  .  Receiving  regularly 
the  scientific  journals  from  London,  he  is  always  in  the 


IO8      THROUGH    COLONIAL    DOORWAYS. 

channel  of  new  discoveries,  and  turns  them  to  the  ad 
vantage  of  his  fellow-citizens.  It  is  to  him  that  they 
are  indebted  for  the  introduction  of  the  cow-pox.  He 
had  at  that  time  inoculated  upwards  of  five  hundred 
persons  in  Kentucky,  when  they  were  making  their  first 
attempts  in  New  York  and  Philadelphia." 


Agreeable  as  it  must  have  been  to  Mi- 
chaux  to  find  flowers  of  science  blooming 
in  these  western  wilds,  we  can  imagine  the 
even  greater  delight  that  such  a  man  as 
Dr.  Brown  must  have  experienced  in  meet 
ing  and  conversing  with  this  foreigner, 
fresh  from  Old  World  haunts  of  learning, 
with  his  interesting  budget  of  news,  po 
litical  as  well  as  scientific.  Those  were 
the  exciting  days  of  the  Consulate  in 
France,  when  Lord  Nelson  was  gaining 
victories  for  England  in  the  Northern  seas  ; 
and  we  can  picture  to  ourselves  these  two 
learned  gentlemen,  seated  before  a  great 
fire  of  logs,  with  a  steaming  bowl  of  punch, 
made  from  the  famous  Kentucky  apple 
jack,  beside  them,  turning  away  from  the 
paths  of  science  to  discuss  Napoleon's  vic 
tories,  the  coalition  against  England,  and 
the  assassination  of  the  Emperor  Paul  in 


AMERICAN    PHILOSOPHICAL    SOCIETY. 

Russia,  which  was  followed  by  a  treaty 
between  his  successor  and  the  English 
sovereign. 

American  science  must  have  been  in  a 
condition  of  encouraging  activity  between 
1750  and  1767,  for  in  those  years  there 
were  no  less  than  three  societies  in  Phila 
delphia  whose  aims  and  pursuits  were  in 
the  main  identical, — the  promotion  of  use 
ful  knowledge  and  the  drawing  together 
of  its  votaries.  These  societies  were  a 
second  Junto,  of  which  the  indefatigable 
Dr.  Franklin  was  a  member,  the  American 
Philosophical  Society,  and  the  American 
Society.  This  division  in  the  ranks  of 
science  probably  arose  from  the  feeling 
existing  between  the  adherents  of  the 
Penn  family  and  those  averse  to  them ; 
these  parties  being  as  violently  opposed  to 
each  other  as  were,  later,  Federalist  and 
Democratic-Republican  ;  or,  still  later,  the 
Whig  and  Democratic  parties.  Happily 
for  the  historian,  who  is  sadly  confused  by 
Juntos  and  Juntolings,  and  by  American 
Societies  which  were  philosophical,  and 
Philosophical  Societies  which  were  also 
10 


IIO     THROUGH    COLONIAL    DOORWAYS. 

American,  these  different  bodies  showed  a 
disposition  to  unite,  and  in  1769  were  in 
corporated  into  one  society,  under  the  title 
of  American  Philosophical  Society,  held  at 
Philadelphia,  for  Promoting  Useful  Knowl 
edge.  This  title  proving  a  trifle  "  unhandy 
for  every-day  use,"  to  borrow  the  phrase 
ology  of  a  patriotic  farmer's  «wife,  who  be 
stowed  upon  one  of  her  offspring  the 
entire  heading  of  the  Republican  ticket 
in  1860,  "Abraham  Lincoln*  Hannibal 
Hamlin,"  it  has  gradually  been  abbrevi 
ated  into  the  American  Philosophical  So 
ciety,  there  being  now  no  other. 

Of  this  united  society  Dr.  Franklin  was 
elected  president,  the  first  of  an  honorable 
line  of  presidents,  whose  portraits  adorn 
the  walls  of  the  old  rooms  on  Fifth  Street, 
where  the  philosophers  met  more  than  a 
hundred  years  ago.  The  society  obtained 
a  grant  of  land  from  the  State  of  Pennsyl 
vania  in  1785,  and  in  1787  its  hall  was  com 
pleted,  the  one  still  used,  in  whose  sunshiny 
rooms  are  now  gathered  the  relics,  the 
treasures,  and  the  memories  of  a  century. 
Here  is  the  old  chair  on  whose  broad  arm 


AMERICAN    PHILOSOPHICAL    SOCIETY.        I  I  I 

Jefferson  wrote  the  Declaration,  and  here 
are  autograph  letters  and  autographs  of 
such  value  as  to  fill  the  soul  of  the  col 
lector  with  "  envy,  hatred,  and  malice,  and 
all  uncharitableness."  On  one  side  of  the 
hall  is  the  well-known  and  most  character 
istic  portrait  of  Dr.  Franklin,*  in  his  blue 
coat,  large  wig,  and  spectacles,  while  near 
by  is  his  marble  effigy  by  Houdon,  whose 
statue  of  Washington  bears  the  proud 
inscription,  "Fait  par  Houdon^  citoyen  Fran- 


Dr.  Franklin  was  annually  elected  presi 
dent  of  the  society,  Dr.  Thomas  Cadwala- 
der  officiating  during  his  residence  abroad. 
Brissot  de  Warville,  coming  to  Philadel 
phia  in  1788,  exclaims,  with  devoutness 
rare  in  a  Frenchman,  "  Thanks  be  to  God, 
he  still  exists  !  This  great  man,  for  so 
many  years  the  preceptor  of  the  Ameri 
cans,  who  so  gloriously  contributed  to 
their  independence  ;  death  had  threatened 


*  Charles  Willson  Peale's  copy  of  Martin's  Franklin, 
the  original  of  which  is  owned  by  Mr.  Henry  Pratt 
McKean. 


112      THROUGH    COLONIAL    DOORWAYS. 

his  days,  but  our  fears  are  dissipated,  and 
his  health  is  restored."  Two  years  later 
the  same  chronicler  records,  "  Franklin  has 
enjoyed  this  year  the  blessing  of  death,  for 
which  he  waited  so  long  a  time." 

As  president  of  the  Philosophical  So 
ciety,  he  was  succeeded,  in  1791,  by  Dr. 
Rittenho.use,  the  greatest  American  astron 
omer,  of  whom  Jefferson  said,  "  We  have 
supposed  Rittenhouse  second  to  no  astron 
omer  living  ;  in  genius  he  must  be  first, 
because  he  is  self-taught."  It  was  he  who 
contributed  to  the  society  the  first  purely 
scientific  paper  in  its  series  of  Transactions, 
a  calculation  on  the  transit  of  Venus.  He 
also  described  a  wonderful  orrery,  which 
represented  the  revolution  of  the  heavenly 
bodies  more  completely  than  it  had  ever 
been  done  before,  and  which  he  had  him 
self  constructed  at  the  age  of  twenty-three. 
In  June,  1769,  he  made  observations  on 
the  transit  of  Venus.  "  The  whole  horizon 
was  without  a  cloud,"  says  Rittenhouse,  in 
his  report  of  this  event;  and  so  greatly 
excited  was  the  young  astronomer  that,  in 
the  instant  of  one  of  the  contacts  of  the 


AMERICAN    PHILOSOPHICAL   SOCIETY.       113 

planet  with  the  sun,  he  actually  fainted 
with  emotion.  Rittenhouse's  interesting 
report  on  this  phenomenon,  which  had 
never  been  seen  but  twice  before  by  any 
inhabitant  of  the  earth,  was  received  with 
satisfaction  by  learned  and  scientific  men 
everywhere.  Those  who  visit  the  hall  of 
the  society  to-day  may  look  out  upon  the 
State-House  yard  from  the  same  window 
through  which  Rittenhouse  made  his  ob 
servations,  and  note  the  passing  hours  upon 
the  face  of  a  clock  constructed  by  his 
hands,  which,  the  curator,  says,  "  still  keeps 
good  time." 

Prominent  among  the  portraits  of  early 
officers  is  an  interesting  picture  of  Thomas 
Jefferson,  who  was  third  president  of  the 
Philosophical  Society,  as  well  as  of  the 
United  States.  This  painting,  which  well 
portrays  the  intellectual  and  spirited  face 
of  the  original,  was  executed  at  Monticello 
by  Mr.  Sully,  who  was  invited  there  for 
this  purpose.  Jefferson,  who  would  have 
been  a  great  scientist  had  he  not  been 
called  upon  by  his  country  to  use  his 
powers  as  a  statesman,  naturally  took  a 
h  10* 


114     THROUGH    COLONIAL    DOORWAYS. 

warm  interest  in  the  Philosophical  Society, 
and  was  a  member  long  before  he  was 
made  its  president  in  1797.  While  abroad 
he  disputed  the  arguments  of  the  learned 
Count  de  Buffon  on  the  degeneracy  of 
American  animals,  and  finally  made  his 
position  secure  by  sending  the  astonished 
Frenchman  the  bones,  skin,  and  horns 
of  an  enormous  New  Hampshire  moose. 
Equally  convincing  was  this,  and  more 
agreeable  than  the  manner  in  which  Dr. 
Franklin  answered  a  similar  argument  on 
the  degeneracy  of  American  men,  by 
making  all  the  Americans  at  table,  and  all 
the  Frenchmen,  stand  up.  As  those  of 
his  compatriots  present  happened  to  be 
fine  specimens  physically,  towering  above 
the  little  Gauls,  the  good  doctor  had  the 
argument  all  his  own  way. 

It  seemed,  indeed,  as  if  these  two  great 
men,  who  so  harmoniously  combined  the 
ideal  and  the  practical,  were  born  to  prove 
to  the  world  that  genius  of  the  highest 
order,  in  science,  letters,  and  statecraft,  is 
not  incompatible  with  the  same  sort  of 
ability  that  is  essential  to  the  success  of  a 


AMERICAN    PHILOSOPHICAL    SOCIETY.        I  I  5 

Western  farmer  or  a  skilled  mechanic. 
Hence,  if  Dr.  Franklin  employed  his  leisure 
hours  in  inventing  an  improved  stove,  or 
explaining  to  the  Philosophical  Society 
why  certain  chimneys  smoked ;  Mr.  Jef 
ferson  used  his  in  designing  a  plough, 
for  which  he  received  a  gold  medal  from 
France,  and  in  calculating  the  number  of 
bushels  of  wheat  to  the  acre,  at  Monti- 
cello.  One  day,  he  is  interesting  himself 
in  the  importation  of  seed-rice  from  Italy, 
from  the  Levant,  and  from  Egypt ;  while 
on  another,  he  is  helping  the  Philosophical 
Society  to  frame  instructions  for  the  gui 
dance  of  Andre  Michaux  in  his  Western 
explorations.  It  was  life  that  interested 
them  both, — life  in  the  smaller  details  that 
affect  home  comfort,  as  well  as  in  the 
broader  issues  that  bear  upon  the  happi 
ness  of  states  and  nations.  In  Mr.  Jeffer 
son's  minute  directions  regarding  the  edu 
cation  of  his  daughters,  and  in  his  grasp 
of  the  details  of  farming,  we  recognize  the 
same  sort  of  practical  common  sense  that 
so  eminently  distinguished  Dr.  Franklin, 
of  whom  his  latest  biographer  says,  in 


((  TJNIVE: 

X£a= 


I  1 6      THROUGH    COLONIAL    DOORWAYS. 

his  own  forcible  and  epigrammatic  style, 
— "Whatever  he  has  said  on  domestic 
economy,  or  thrift,  is  sound  and  striking. 
No  other  writer  has  left  so  many  just  and 
original  observations  on  success  in  life. 
No  other  writer  has  pointed  out  so  clearly 
the  way  to  obtain  the  greatest  amount  of 
comfort  out  of  life.  What  Solomon  did 
for  the  spiritual  man,  that  did  Franklin  for 
the  earthly  man.  The  book  of  Proverbs 
is  a  collection  of  receipts  for  laying  up 
treasure  in  heaven.  '  Poor  Richard '  is  a 
collection  of  receipts  for  laying  up  treasure 
on  earth."  * 

In  addition  to  its  regular  meetings  for 
business  and  for  scientific  purposes,  the 
Philosophical  Society  had  its  gala  days,  its 
annual  dinners,  and  its  especial  receptions 
and  entertainments  given  to  distinguished 
strangers.  Hither,  in  1794,  came  the  Rev. 
Joseph  Priestley,  of  Birmingham,  counted 
in  France  too  devout  for  a  scientist,  and  in 
England  too  broad  for  the  clergy.  As  the 


*  Benjamin  Franklin  as  a  Man  of  Letters,  by  John 
Bach  McMaster,  p.  277. 


AMERICAN    PHILOSOPHICAL    SOCIETY.        I  I/ 

discoverer  of  oxygen,  the  friend  of  Frank 
lin,  whose  experiments  in  electricity  he  had 
described,  and  a  devotee  to  the  cause  of 
liberty,  Dr.  Priestley  was  warmly  welcomed 
by  the  Philosophical  Society,  which  not 
only  received  him  into  its  own  learned 
brotherhood,  but  adopted  him  into  Ameri 
can  citizenship.  This  first  reception  was 
followed  by  a  dinner  given  by  the  learned 
coterie  in  honor  of  Dr.  Priestley. 

Many  anecdotes  of  these  old  dinners 
have  been  handed  down,  showing  that 
when  the  good  philosophers  put  science 
aside  they  could  be  as  lively  raconteurs 
and  bons  vivants  as  the  world  has  ever  seen, 
On  such  festive  occasions,  the  witty  old 
Abbe  Correa  de  Serra,  Judge  Peters,  Mr. 
Du  Ponceau,  Dr.  Caspar  Wistar,  Mr.  John 
Vaughan,  and  later,  Robert  Walsh,  LL.D., 
and  the  Honorable  William  Short  of  Vir 
ginia,  both  most  delightful  talkers,  George 
Ord,  William  Strickland  the  architect,  and 
the  ever-ready  wits  Dr.  Nathaniel  Chap 
man  and  Nicholas  Biddle,  gathered  around 
the  board. 

Of  Judge  Peters's  clever  sayings  we  find 


Il8     THROUGH    COLONIAL    DOORWAYS. 

numerous  records.  As  he  grew  older,  his 
sharp  nose  and  chin  approached  each  other 
closely.  A  friend  observed  to  him,  one 
day,  that  his  nose  and  chin  would  soon  be 
at  loggerheads.  "  Very  likely,"  he  replied, 
"  for  hard  words  often  pass  between  them." 
Once,  while  he  was  Speaker  of  the  House 
of  Assembly,  one  of  the  members,  in 
crossing  the  room,  tripped  on  the  carpet 
and  fell  flat.  The  House  burst  into  laugh 
ter,  while  the  judge,  with  the  utmost 
gravity,  cried,  "  Order,  order,  gentlemen  ! 
Do  you  not  see  that  a  member  is  on  the 
floor  ?"  Unceremonious,  communicative, 
friendly,  Judge  Peters  was  the  life  of  every 
circle  that  he  entered ;  correcting  Mayor 
Wharton  at  a  dinner  when  he  called  to  the 
waiter,  "  John,  more  wine,"  saying  that  it 
was  a  demijohn  that  he  needed,  while  he 
himself  "  drank  like  a  fish,"  as  he  expressed 
it,  from  his  goblet  of  water,  requiring  no 
artificial  aid  to  brighten  wits  that  were 
always  keen  and  scintillating. 

Mr.  George  Ord,  who  was  a  delightful 
raconteur  as  well  as  a  learned  naturalist, 
took  great  pleasure  in  relating  a  story 


AMERICAN    PHILOSOPHICAL    SOCIETY.        I  19 

of  his  friend  Dr.  Abercrombie,  a  fellow- 
member  of  the  society.  Dr.  James  Aber 
crombie,  sometime  rector  of  Christ  and 
St.  Peter's  Churches,  was  a  divine  of  the 
old  school,  who  despised  not  the  good 
things  of  this  lower  world  while  engaged 
in  preparation  for  those  of  the  higher. 
Once,  while  on  a  pastoral  visit  to  the 
small  town  of  Shrewsbury,  New  Jersey, 
where  an  Episcopal  church  had  been  es 
tablished,  Dr.  Abercrombie  was  regaled 
with  some  very  fine  old  Madeira  wine, 
which  he  drank  with  evident  appreciation, 
and  probably  some  surprise  at  finding 
anything  so  choice  in  that  region  of  the 
country.  The  next  day,  according  to  Mr. 
Ord's  story,  the  good  parson  chose  for  his 
text  that  most  appropriate  verse  from  the 
Acts  of  the  Apostles,  in  which  St.  Paul 
says,  "  And  the  barbarous  people  showed 
us  no  little  kindness." 

Another  clerical  member  of  the  learned 
fraternity  was  William  White,  one  of  our 
early  American  bishops,  who  was  an  ardent 
patriot  and  a  genial  companion,  as  well  as 
the  most  devout  of  churchmen.  A  warm 


120     THROUGH    COLONIAL    DOORWAYS. 

friend  of  Benjamin  West,  the  artist,  Bishop 
White  was  fond  of  telling  how  he  helped 
West  to  secure  his  bride,  Miss  Betty  Shew- 
ell.  Mr.  West  was  in  England,  and  so 
busy  painting  for  the  court  and  royal  fam 
ily  that  he  could  not  come  over  to  America 
to  marry  his  fiancee ;  but,  as  his  father 
was  about  to  sail  for  England,  he  wrote 
to  Miss  Shewell,  begging  her  to  join  his 
father,  and  make  the  voyage  with  him. 
Miss  Shewell's  brother,  who  was  averse  to 
the  match,  chiefly  because  West  was  an 
impecunious  genius,  put  a  stop  to  the 
proceedings  by  confining  the  fair  bride- 
elect  in  an  upper  room.  Bishop  White, 
then  a  very  young  man,  Dr.  Franklin,  and 
Mr.  Francis  Hopkinson  determined  to  help 
on  the  "  course  of  true  love"  by  facilitating 
Miss  Shewell's  escape  to  the  ship,  which 
was  waiting  for  her  at  Chester.  This  they 
did  by  means  of  a  romantic  rope-ladder 
and  a  carriage  around  the  corner.  Miss 
Shewell  with  her  maid  reached  the  ship 
in  good  time,  and  a  few  weeks  after  was 
married  to  Benjamin  West  in  the  English 
chapel  of  St.  Martin's-in-the-Fields.  In 


AMERICAN    PHILOSOPHICAL    SOCIETY.        121 

telling  this  story,  the  kindly  bishop  was 
wont  to  add,  gleefully,  "  Ben  was  a  good 
fellow,  and  deserved  a  good  wife,  and  I 
would  do  the  same  thing  over  again  to 
day," — a  sentiment,  we  may  be  sure,  that 
was  greeted  with  applause  by  the  gravest 
of  the  philosophers,  they  being  no  excep 
tion  to  the  rule  that  "  all  the  world  loves 
a  lover."  An  active  member  of  the  so 
ciety,  and  for  years  one  of  its  counsellors, 
Bishop  White  was  present  on  all  important 
occasions,  grave  or  gay.  Having  known 
General  Washington  and  the  other  great 
men  of  the  Revolution,  and  met  and  con 
versed  with  Samuel  Johnson  while  in  Eng 
land,  his  was  one  of  the  few  familiar  faces 
that  greeted  the  Marquis  de  Lafayette 
when  he  revisited  America  in  1824. 

Another  face  to  be  seen  for  many  suc 
cessive  years  at  the  meetings  of  the  society, 
and  at  its  annual  dinners,  was  that  of  Peter 
S.  Du  Ponceau,  the  French  lawyer  and 
philologist,  who  lived  here  for  so  many 
years.  He  has  left  behind  him  pictures 
of  some  of  his  learned  associates  that 
prove  to  us  that  these  gentlemen,  whose 

F  II 


122      THROUGH    COLONIAL    DOORWAYS. 

faces  look  down  upon  us  gravely  from 
century-old  portraits,  were,  on  occasions, 
as  full  of  quips  and  quirks  and  fun  and 
frolic  as  the  most  jovial  collegian  of  our 
day.  Of  his  frequent  journeys  to  Wash 
ington  to  attend  the  sessions  of  the  Su 
preme  Court  of  the  United  States,  in  com 
pany  with  Mr.  Ingersoll,  Mr.  William 
Rawle,  Mr.  Lewis,  and  Mr.  Edward  Tilgh- 
man,  he  says, — 

"As  soon  as  we  were  out  of  the  city  and  felt  the  flush 
of  air,  we  were  like  school-boys  in  the  playground  on  a 
holiday ;  and  we  began  to  kill  time  by  all  the  means 
that  our  imagination  could  suggest.  Flashes  of  wit 
shot  their  coruscations  on  all  sides  ;  puns  of  the  genuine 
Philadelphia  stamp  were  handed  about ;  old  college 
stories  were  revived ;  macaroni  Latin  was  spoken  with 
great  purity;  songs  were  sung, — even  classical  songs, 
among  which  I  recollect  the  famous  Bacchanalian  of  the 
Archdeacon  of  Oxford,  Mihi  est  propositum  in  taberna 
mori ;  in  short,  we  might  have  been  taken  for  anything 
else  but  the  grave  counsellors  of  the  celebrated  bar  of 
Philadelphia." 

Mr.  Du  Ponceau  it  is  who  is  accredited 
with  the  well-known  story  of  the  lawyer 
whose  client  came  in  and  deposed  that 
"  his  brother  had  died  and  made  a  will." 


AMERICAN    PHILOSOPHICAL    SOCIETY.        123 

A  gentleman  who  read  law  with  the  face 
tious  Frenchman  relates  that  it  was  only 
when  a  fee  was  placed  in  Mr.  Du  Ponceau's 
hand  that  he  translated  the  phrase  into, 
"  Ah  !  you  mean  that  your  brother  made 
a  will  and  died."  We  can  imagine  the 
laugh  with  which  the  philosophers  would 
greet  this  most  practical  of  jokes. 

Quite  as  celebrated  as  the  dinners  of  the 
society  were  Mr.  John  Vaughan's  break 
fasts,  which  held  the  same  prominence  in 
the  social  life  of  the  time  as  Dr.  Wistar's 
evening  parties  or  as  the  Sunday  afternoon 
vespers  of  Mr.  Henry  C.  Carey,  where,  dur 
ing  the  late  war,  and  after  its  close,  soldiers, 
politicians,  statesmen,  and  civilians  met  to 
gether  and  discussed  the  great  issues  and 
events  that  shook  the  nation  from  1860 
to  1865.  So  at  Mr.  Vaughan's  breakfasts 
were  discussed  the  agitating  questions  of 
the  last  decade  of  the  century,  Federalists 
and  Democratic-Republicans,  as  they  were 
beginning  to  be  called,  meeting  together 
around  his  hospitable  board.  Mr.  Vaughan 
himself  was  a  Federalist,  although  not  a 
violent  partisan.  Riding,  one  day,  with 


124     THROUGH    COLONIAL    DOORWAYS. 

Mr.  Jefferson,  his  horse  became  unmanage 
able,  disturbing  somewhat  Mr.  Vaughan's 
serenity,  upon  which  the  latter,  gathering 
his  reins  firmly,  muttered  under  his  breath, 
"  This  horse — this  horse  is  as  bad  as  a 
Democrat !"  "  Oh,  no,"  replied  the  high- 
priest  and  leader  of  the  party  ;  "  if  he  were 
a  Democrat,  he  would  have  thrown  you 
long  ago."  Mr.  Vaughan,  for  many  years 
librarian  and  treasurer  of  the  society,  had 
his  rooms  in  the  building  on  Fifth  Street, 
in  one  of  which,  before  its  generous  old- 
fashioned  fireplace  and  high  carved  mantel, 
Washington  sat  for  his  well-known  portrait 
by  the  elder  Peale.  The  general,  whom 
Mr.  Vaughan  numbered  among  his  friends, 
had  already  been  elected  a  member  of  the 
society;  but  we  find  few  records  of  his 
presence  at  its  meetings  or  at  the  famous 
breakfasts.  One  of  these  breakfasts,  given 
in  the  latter  years  of  Mr.  Vaughan's  life,  is 
still  remembered  by  Dr.  William  H.  Fur- 
ness,  then  a  young  man,  recently  come 
from  New  England  to  take  charge  of  the 
First  Unitarian  Church  of  Philadelphia. 
The  breakfast  lasted  from  nine  until  one. 


AMERICAN    PHILOSOPHICAL   SOCIETY.       125 

Whether  the  guests  breakfasted  upon 
roast  peacocks  and  nightingales'  tongues, 
or  upon  plain  beefsteak  and  chops,  Dr. 
Furness  does  not  remember ;  but  he  will 
never  forget  the  circle  gathered  around 
that  table.  There  were  John  Quincy 
Adams,  Colonel  Drayton  of  South  Caro 
lina,  Mr.  Du  Ponceau,  and  Dr.  Channing, 
who  exercised  such  an  influence  on  the 
religious  thought  of  New  England,  and 
of  whom  the  orthodox  clergy  were  wont 
to  say  that  his  theology  was  "  Calvinism 
with  the  bones  taken  out."  A  goodly 
company  of  leading  minds,  "joined  later," 
says  Dr.  Furness,  by  Albert  Gallatin  and 
the  Rev.  William  Ware,  pastor  of  the 
First  Unitarian  Church  in  New  York. 
Among  other  visitors  of  note  entertained 
by  Mr.  Vaughan  were  Sir  Charles  Lyell, 
and  George  Robins  Gliddon,  the  Egyp 
tologist,  who  were  both  in  this  country 
about  1841. 

Mr.   John   Vaughan,   whose   most   dis 
tinguishing  trait  was  love  for  his  fellow- 
men,  whom,  it  was    said,  he   took   more 
delight  in  serving  than  most  men  take  in 
ii* 


126     THROUGH    COLONIAL    DOORWAYS. 

making  and  hoarding  dollars,  belonged  to 
a  family  distinguished  in  statesmanship, 
letters,  and  affairs.  The  Vaughan  brothers 
were  of  English  birth,  sons  of  Samuel 
Vaughan,  a  London  merchant  trading  with 
America.  The  most  prominent  of  this 
large  family  was  Benjamin  Vaughan,  M.D., 
LL.D.,  sometime  secretary  to  Lord  Shel- 
burne,  and  acting  as  confidential  messenger 
in  the  peace  negotiations  between  Great 
Britain  and  America  in  1783.  Deeply 
tinctured  with  the  revolutionary  spirit  of 
the  time,  a  liberal  to  the  extent  of  admir 
ing  the  system  of  the  Directory  in  France, 
and  writing  in  favor  of  it,  Benjamin 
Vaughan  finally  found  it  expedient  to  quit 
the  Old  World  for  the  more  congenial 
political  atmosphere  of  the  New.  He 
settled  in  Hallowell,  Maine,  as  did  his 
brother  Charles,  where  descendants  of  the 
name  still  reside.  The  death  of  Dr. 
Benjamin  Vaughan,  of  Hallowell,  was 
announced  to  the  society  in  1836,  and 
Mr.  Merrick,  his  kinsman,  was  appointed 
to  prepare  a  notice  of  him.  Another 
brother,  Samuel,  settled  in  Jamaica ;  Wil- 


AMERICAN    PHILOSOPHICAL    SOCIETY.       I2/ 

liam,  the  successful  banker  of  the  family, 
remained  in  London ;  while  John,  one  of 
the  younger  brothers,  came  to  Philadelphia, 
where  he  established  himself  as  a  wine 
merchant,  and  a  prominent  member  of  the 
First  Unitarian  Church.  Generous  to  a 
fault,  "  Johnny  Vaughan,"  as  his  intimates 
were  wont  to  call  him,  seems  to  have 
objected  to  parting  with  but  one  single 
earthly  possession, — his  umbrella.  A  lady 
who  knew  Mr.  Vaughan  when  he  was  a  very 
old  gentleman  remembers  one  of  flaming 
red,  whose  color  should  have  insured  its 
staying  qualities.  A  story  is  also  told  of 
his  having  printed  on  the  outside  of  another 
one  in  large  characters,  "  This  umbrella 
was  stolen  from  John  Vaughan."  One 
day  a  friend  of  Mr.  Vaughan's  started  off 
with  this  umbrella,  and,  quite  unconscious 
of  its  equivocal  inscription,  hoisted  it  in 
broad  day.  Mr.  Vaughan's  Portuguese 
office  boy,  who  could  speak  or  read  no 
English,  but  who  knew  the  umbrella,  and 
what  the  printing  stood  for,  chanced  to 
meet  the  gentleman  who  carried  it,  and 
with  speechless  but  entire  devotion  to  his 


128      THROUGH    COLONIAL    DOORWAYS. 

master's  interests  followed  it,  and  "  froze 
on  to  it,"  as  the  narrator  expressed  it,  with 
such  persistency  that  the  holder  was  fain 
to  relinquish  it  and  make  his  escape  from 
the  jeers  of  the  by-standers. 

It  was  over  such  a  circle  of  learned  men 
and  beaux-esprits  that  Mr.  Jefferson  was 
called  to  preside,  when  he  came  to  Phila 
delphia,  in  1797,  to  act  as  Vice-President  of 
the  United  States  in  an  uncongenial  Fed 
eral  administration.  It  is  not  strange  that, 
with  his  scholarly  and  scientific  tastes,  he 
found  in  the  rooms  of  the  Philosophical 
Society  a  grateful  retreat  from  political 
wrangling  and  the  cares  of  state.  Party 
feeling  ran  so  high,  at  this  period,  that 
"social  intercourse  between  members  of 
the  two  parties  ceased,"  says  Mr.  Parton, 
"  and  old  friends  crossed  the  street  to  avoid 
saluting  one  another.  Jefferson  declined 
invitations  to  ordinary  social  gatherings, 
and  spent  his  leisure  hours  in  the  circle 
that  met  in  the  rooms  of  the  Philo 
sophical  Society."  Not  that  its  member 
ship  was  Republican,  many  of  its  prominent 
members  being  Federalists ;  notably,  Dr. 


AMERICAN    PHILOSOPHICAL   SOCIETY.       1 2Q 

Benjamin  Rush,  Chief  Justice  Tilghman, 
Judge  Peters,  Jared  Ingersoll,  who  was 
Federalist  candidate  for  the  Vice-Presi 
dency  of  the  United  States  in  1812,  Dr. 
Robert  Patterson,  and  Mr.  Du  Ponceau. 
This  was  a  place,  however,  where  science, 
art,  and  literature  occupied  the  ground  and 
where  politics  and  party  differences  were 
forgotten  in  the  discussion  of  some  subject 
that  touched  the  general  weal,  as  when  Dr. 
Caspar  Wistar  discovered  a  new  bone  ;  or 
Robert  Patterson  presented  a  paper  on 
improved  ship-pumps ;  or  Jonathan  Wil 
liams  one  on  a  new  mode  of  refining  sugar  ; 
or  when  John  Fitch  exhibited  "  the  model, 
with  a  drawing  and  description,  of  a  ma 
chine  for  working  a  boat  against  the  stream 
by  means  of  a  steam-engine ;"  or,  later, 
when  Mr.  Charles  Goodyear  was  induced, 
by  Franklin  Peale,  to  demonstrate  to  the 
society  that  vulcanized  rubber  could  be 
made  from  the  juice  of  the  cahuchu  tree. 
And  here,  as  if  to  prove  that  science  and  re 
ligion  may  be  allied  in  closest  union,  came 
two  distinguished  Moravian  divines,  John 
Heckewelder  and  the  Rev.  Lewis  D.  de 


I3O     THROUGH    COLONIAL    DOORWAYS. 

Schweinitz,  the  latter  with  his  "  Synopsis 
Fungorutn  in  America" 

John  Adams,  the  Federalist  President, 
was  a  member  of  the  Philosophical  Society, 
and  speaks  of  it  with  warm  admiration. 
Comparing  Massachusetts  and  Pennsyl 
vania,  he  says,  in  one  of  his  letters  to  his 
wife, — 

"  Particular  gentlemen  here  [in  Philadelphia],  who 
have  improved  upon  their  education  by  travel,  shine ; 
but  in  general  old  Massachusetts  outshines  her  younger 
sisters.  Still,  in  several  particulars  they  have  more  wit 
than  we.  They  have  societies,  the  Philosophical  Society 
particularly,  which  excites  a  scientific  emulation,  and 
propagates  their  fame.  Tf  ever  I  get  through  this  scene 
of  politics  and  war,  I  will  spend  the  remainder  of  my 
days  in  endeavoring  to  instruct  my  countrymen  in  the 
art  of  making  the  most  of  their  abilities  and  virtues,  an 
art  which  they  have  hitherto  too  much  neglected.  A 
philosophical  society  shall  be  established  at  Boston,  if  I 
have  wit  and  address  enough  to  accomplish  it,  some 
time  or  other.  Pray,  set  Brother  Cranch's  philosophical 
head  plodding  upon  this  project.  Many  of  his  lucubra 
tions  would  have  been  published  and  preserved  for  the 
benefit  of  mankind,  and  for  his  honor,  if  such  a  club  had 
existed." 

Mr.  Madison,  who  was  far  more  con 
genial  to  Mr.  Jefferson,  politically,  than  the 


AMERICAN    PHILOSOPHICAL   SOCIETY.       13! 

sturdy  New  Englander,  had  been  for  years 
a  member  of  the  society ;  but  he  was  out 
of  office  now,  and  living  quietly  at  his  rural 
home  in  Orange  County,  Virginia.  It  was 
during  his  residence  here,  in  1794,  that  the 
sprightly  widow,  who  afterwards  became 
his  wife,  writes  of  her  first  meeting  with 
"  the  great  little  Madison."  She  tells  us, 
in  her  charming  letters,  that  Aaron  Burr 
brought  him  to  see  her.  On  this  occasion 
she  wore  "  a  mulberry-colored  satin,  with 
a  silk  tulle  kerchief  over  her  neck,  and  on 
her  head  an  exquisitely  dainty  little  cap, 
from  which  an  occasional  uncropped  curl 
would  escape." 

These  were  still  days  of  picturesque 
dressing,  with  both  men  and  women. 
"  Jeffersonian  simplicity"  had  not  yet  come 
in,  in  full  force.  Watson,  the  annalist, 
describes  Mr.  Jefferson,  a  few  years  earlier, 
in  "  a  long-waisted  white  cloth  coat,  scarlet 
breeches  and  vest,  a  cocked  hat,  shoes  and 
buckles,  and  white  silk  hose," — an  elegant 
figure,  the  life  and  centre  of  the  group  of 
men  gathered  together  in  the  society's 
rooms  on  Fifth  Street.  The  great  Ritten- 


132      THROUGH    COLONIAL    DOORWAYS. 

house  had,  in  1797,  set  forth  upon  a  wider 
range  among  the  stars  ;  but  Dr.  Benjamin 
Rush  was  there, — physician,  scientist,  phi 
lanthropist,  and  statesman,  a  host  in  him 
self.  His  kindly  face  and  the  recollections 
of  his  contemporaries  tell  us  that  he  was 
a  pleasant  companion,  with  all  his  learning, 
which  cannot  always  be  said  of  the  learned 
ones  of  the  earth.  There  also  was  the 
Rev.  William  Smith,  first  provost  of  the 
University  of  Pennsylvania,  a  man  of  sci 
ence  as  well  as  an  able  divine ;  Dr.  Barton, 
nephew  of  Dr.  Rittenhouse,  an  original 
worker,  who  contributed  largely  to  the 
scientific  literature  of  the  day,  and  gave  to 
Americans  their  first  elementary  treatise 
on  botany;  and  Dr.  Caspar  Wistar,  the 
learned  physician  and  genial  companion, 
who  not  only  enriched  the  society  by  his 
own  work  and  teachings,  but  by  his  corre 
spondence  with  Humboldt  and  Soemmer- 
ing  in  Germany,  Camper  in  Holland,  Syl 
vester  in  Geneva,  Pole  and  Hope  in  Great 
Britain,  and  many  more  of  that  ilk,  kept 
its  members  en  rapport  with  scientific  work 
abroad.  Dr.  Wistar  succeeded  Dr.  Rush 


AMERICAN    PHILOSOPHICAL   SOCIETY.       133 

as  President  of  the  Pennsylvania  Abolition 
Society,  which  early  uttered  its  protest 
against  slavery.  Nor  was  Dr.  Wistar 
solely  interested  in  the  cause  of  the  negro  ; 
that  of  the  American  Indian,  which  we  are 
wont  to  regard  as  one  of  the  latest  fads  in 
the  philanthropic  world,  also  engaged  his 
attention  at  this  early  date. 

Dr.  Wistar  was  elected  president  of  the 
Philosophical  Society  on  the  resignation 
of  Mr.  Jefferson,  in  1815.  Some  years 
prior  to  this,  Dr.  Wistar  introduced  to  its 
circle  the  Baron  von  Humboldt,  whom  he 
invited  to  that  smaller  coterie  of  learned 
men,  at  his  own  house,  which  composed 
the  Wistar  Club.  A  gala  day  it  must  have 
been  at  the  Philosophical  Society  when  it 
opened  its  doors  to  this  greatest  naturalist 
of  his  time,  perhaps  of  any  time.  The 
Baron  von  Humboldt  was  returning  from 
an  extended  tour  in  South  America,  Mex 
ico,  and  the  West  Indies.  His  young 
friends  Montufar  and  Bonpland  were  with 
him, — the  same  Bonpland  who  later  gave 
the  Empress  Josephine  flower-seeds  from 
the  West  Indies  to  plant  at  Malmaison, 

12 


134     THROUGH    COLONIAL    DOORWAYS. 

who  became  her  intendant  there,  and 
who  stood  by  her  bedside  when  she  was 
dying. 

Another  attractive  figure  in  this  group 
of  learned  men  is  William  Tilghman,  Chief 
Justice  of  Pennsylvania,  the  sound  lawyer, 
ripe  scholar,  and  true  gentleman,  as  his 
biographer  calls  him.  Perhaps  the  highest 
praise  we  can  award  to  him  now  is  to  re 
cord  that,  although  Southern  born  and 
owning  slaves,  he  expressed,  with  regard 
to  slavery,  a  "  fervent  wish  to  see  the  evils 
of  this  institution  mitigated,  and  if  possible 
extinguished,"  freeing  his  own  slaves  by  a 
plan  of  gradual  emancipation.  Mr.  Tilgh 
man  was  connected  through  his  mother, 
Anne  Francis,  with  the  supposed  author 
of  the  Letters  of  Junius ;  and,  curiously 
enough,  the  strongest  evidence  yet  found 
that  the  letters  were  written  by  Sir  Philip 
Francis  has  come  through  correspondence 
with  his  American  relatives.  Interesting 
as  is  all  that  relates  to  this  literary  puzzle 
of  more  than  a  century,  the  incident  that 
led  to  the  recent  discoveries  is  like  a  conte 
de  fees,  turning  upon  some  anonymous 


AMERICAN    PHILOSOPHICAL    SOCIETY.        135 

verses  sent  to  a  lady  at  Bath,  in  which  she 
is  told  that 

"  In  the  School  of  the  Graces,  by  Venus  attended, 
Belinda  improves  every  hour." 

The  fair  "  Belinda,"  Miss  Giles  in  every 
day  life,  is  quite  sure  that  the  clever  verses 
came  from  Sir  Philip  Francis,  who  danced 
with  her  through  a  whole  evening  at  Bath. 
In  fact,  she  recognized  the  handwriting 
of  some  of  Woodfall's  fac-similes  of  the 
letters  of  Junius.  She  has  an  anonymous 
note  that  accompanied  the  verses,  which 
is,  she  thinks,  very  like  the  Junius  hand 
writing.  The  investigation  becomes  ex 
citing ;  the  experts,  Messrs.  Chabot  and 
Netherclift,  study  the  note  and  verses  pro~ 
foundly,  and  finally  come  to  the  conclusion 
that  Junius  might  have  written  the  note,  but 
not  the  verses.  The  Hon.  Edward  Twisle- 
ton  is  deeply  interested  in  the  search,  and 
is  loath  to  give  up  this  promising  leading, 
when  lo  !  there  comes  from  over  the  sea 
a  letter,  nearly  a  hundred  years  old,  in 
which  Richard  Tilghman,  in  Philadelphia, 
writes  to  his  cousin,  Sir  Philip  Francis, — 


136     THROUGH    COLONIAL    DOORWAYS. 

"  You  are  very  tenacious  of  your  epigram.  I  observe 
you  contend  for  it,  as  if  your  reputation  as  a  Poet  de 
pended  on  it.  I  did  not  condemn  the  Composition,  I 
only  said  that  it  was  not  an  Original,  and  I  say  so  still ; 
but  yet  I  am  ready  to  allow  that  you  can  weave  Originals, 
because  in  the  School  of  the  Graces  by  Venus  attended, 
Belinda  improves  every  Hour." 

Was  not  this  a  coincidence  ?  The  Fran 
ciscans  were  delighted,  especially  as  the 
experts  were  ready  to  affirm  that  the  hand 
writing  of  the  verses  was  that  of  Richard 
Tilghman,  and  that  it  was  evident  that  he 
had  copied  the  verses  for  Sir  Philip.  As 
if  to  make  all  complete,  it  was  found  that 
Richard  Tilghman  was  at  Bath,  with  his 
kinsman,  at  the  time  the  verses  were  sent. 
Nothing,  that  has  not  been  absolutely 
proven,  has  ever  come  closer  to  proof,  and 
so  it  remains  the  Tantalus  cup  of  the  lit 
terateur,  although  there  are  many  who  find 
the  evidence  quite  conclusive  that  Francis 
and  Junius  were  one  and  the  same. 

Charles  Willson  Peale,  the  artist,  known 
as  the  elder  Peale,  was  curator  of  the 
Philosophical  Society  for  many  years,  and 
one  of  its  most  active  members.  He  did 
good  work  in  many  lines,  being  a  man  of 


AMERICAN    PHILOSOPHICAL    SOCIETY.       137 

scientific  tastes  and  large  public  spirit. 
The  society  owes  him  a  debt  of  gratitude 
for  handing  down  to  this  generation  por 
traits  of  its  most  illustrious  officers  and 
members.  Mr.  Peale  rented  a  number  of 
rooms  in  the  old  house  on  Fifth  Street, 
having  his  museum  in  the  building,  and 
bringing  up  there  his  family  of  artist  chil 
dren,  Raphael,  Rembrandt,  Titian,  Van- 
dyck,  and  Rubens, — names  still  known  in 
American  art,  that  of  Rembrandt  being 
the  most  distinguished.  In  1796  Mr. 
Peale  presented  to  the  assembled  philoso 
phers  a  son  four  months  and  four  days 
old,  born  in  the  building,  requesting  them 
to  name  him.  The  society,  upon  this, 
unanimously  agreed  that  the  child  should 
be  called  Franklin,  after  their  chief  founder 
and  first  president.  "  Franklin  Peale,"  says 
his  biographer,  "  did  not  disgrace  his  spon 
sors.  He  grew  up  thoughtful  and  philo 
sophical."  His  genius  was  in  the  mechan 
ical  line.  He  was  one  of  the  founders  of 
the  Franklin  Institute,  and  for  many  years 
discharged  with  great  ability  the  office  of 
chief  coiner  at  the  United  States  Mint. 

12* 


138      THROUGH    COLONIAL    DOORWAYS. 

One  of  Mr.  Peak's  friends,  who  became 
an  active  and  valued  member  of  the  so 
ciety,  was  the  learned  Abbe  de  Serra, 
Portuguese  Minister  to  the  United  States. 
This  reverend  gentleman  scandalized  Mrs. 
Peale,  whose  neatness  was  phenomenal,  by 
appearing  at  her  door  so  dusty  and  shabby 
(he  was  not  a  handsome  man  at  his  best) 
that  the  dainty  Quakeress  waved  him  away 
from  her  spotless  threshold,  saying,  "  No, 
my  good  man,  I  have  no  time  to  attend  to 
you  now  ;"  little  thinking  that  the  "  good 
man"  was  the  expected  guest  in  whose 
honor  she  had  donned  her  best  satin  gown, 
and  prepared  a  savory  repast,  whose  crown 
ing  triumph  was  a  dish  of  asparagus  from 
Mr.  Peale's  garden,  then  a  greater  rarity 
than  now.  The  Abbe  had  been  on  a  geo 
logical  tramp  with  Mr.  Peale,  and  when 
that  gentleman  rallied  his  wife  on  treating 
his  friend  and  guest  like  a  beggar,  the 
excellent  lady  justified  herself  by  saying 
that,  after  all,  he  could  not  be  much  of  a 
gentleman,  as  he  "  helped  himself  to  the 
asparagus  with  his  fingers ;"  eating  it,  of 
course,  after  the  French  fashion. 


AMERICAN    PHILOSOPHICAL    SOCIETY.        139 

Another  habitue  of  Mr.  Peak's  house, 
and  a  frequent  attendant  at  the  meetings 
of  the  society,  was  Charles  Lucien  Bona 
parte,  Prince  de  Canino.  He  was  the 
nephew  and  son-in-law  of  Joseph  Bona 
parte,  ex-king  of  Spain,  and  while  in 
America  resided  in  a  house  on  the  estate 
of  his  uncle,  near  Bordentown,  New  Jersey. 
This  young  prince  pursued  his  studies  in 
ornithology  in  the  United  states,  making 
important  contributions  to  the  works  of 
Wilson.  A  man  of  wide  scientific  knowl 
edge,  and  a  member  of  nearly  all  the 
learned  societies  of  Europe,  the  Prince  de 
Canino  gave  a  decided  impulse  to  the  study 
of  natural  history  in  Italy,  which  was  his 
home,  and  while  in  Philadelphia  was  an 
active  and  interested  member  of  the  Phil 
osophical  Society,  contributing  original 
papers  and  making  valuable  donations  of 
books  to  its  library. 

A  few  women  of  distinguished  ability 
have  been,  early  and  late,  members  of 
the  Philosophical  Society :  notably  Mary 
Somerville,  the  English  astronomer ;  Pro 
fessor  Maria  Mitchell,  of  Vassar;  Mrs. 


I4O      THROUGH    COLONIAL    DOORWAYS. 

Louis  Agassiz,  and  Madame  Emma  Seiler. 
The  earliest  woman  member  was  the  Rus 
sian  Princess  Daschkof,  lady-in-waiting 
to  the  Empress  Catherine  II.  A  great 
traveller,  for  those  days,  the  princess  prof 
ited  by  all  that  she  saw  and  heard  in  the 
countries  which  she  visited.  A  student 
and  an  observer,  the  friend  of  Diderot  in 
France,  and  associating  in  Edinburgh  with 
such  men  as  Dr.  Blair,  Adam  Smith,  and 
Ferguson,  she  returned  to  Russia  to  become 
director  of  the  Academy  of  Arts  and  Sci 
ences,  and  later  to  establish  another  acad 
emy  for  the  improvement  and  cultivation 
of  the  Russian  language.  Of  the  manner 
in  which  the  news  of  her  election  to  the 
Philosophical  Society  reached  her,  the 
princess  says, — 

"  I  was  at  my  country  house,  and  was 
not  a  little  surprised  on  hearing  that  a 
messenger  from  the  council  of  state  wished 
to  see  me.  The  case  and  letter  were  intro 
duced,  the  former  of  which  contained  a 
large  packet  from  Dr.  Franklin,  and  the 
letter  a  very  complimentary  communication 
on  the  part  of  the  Duke  of  Sudermania. 


AMERICAN    PHILOSOPHICAL    SOCIETY.        14! 

These  despatches,"  says  the  princess,  "  were 
sent  without  any  examination,"  and  it  was 
necessary  to  explain  their  nature  at  once 
to  the  despotic  Catherine.  "Accordingly 
I  drove  to  town,"  adds  the  princess,  "  or 
rather  straight  to  court ;  and  on  entering 
the  Empress's  dressing-room  I  told  the 
valet  de  chambre  in  waiting  that  if  her 
majesty  was  not  then  engaged  I  should  be 
happy  in  having  permission  to  speak  to 
her,  and  to  show  her  some  papers  which  I 
had  that  morning  received.  The  Empress 
desired  I  might  be  shown  into  her  bed 
chamber,  where  I  found  her  writing  at  a 
little  table.  Having  delivered  into  her 
hands  the  letter  of  the  Duke  of  Suder- 
mania, '  These  others,  madame,'  said  I, '  are 
from  Dr.  Franklin  and  from  the  secretary 
of  the  Philosophical  Society  of  Philadelphia, 
of  which  I  have  been  admitted  a  most  un 
worthy  member.'  "  The  Empress  made  no 
comment  on  this  matter ;  but  after  reading 
the  letter  of  the  duke,  desired  the  princess 
not  to  answer  his  grace's  complimentary 
effusion.  She  had  no  objection,  it  appears, 
to  a  correspondence  between  the  princess 


142      THROUGH    COLONIAL    DOORWAYS. 

and  the  octogenarian  Franklin,  on  the  other 
side  of  the  sea ;  but  with  the  Duke  of 
Sudermania  it  was  quite  a  different  affair. 
The  duke  was  a  brother  of  the  King  of 
Sweden,  there  was  a  coolness  between  the 
courts  of  Russia  and  Sweden,  and,  to  com 
plicate  matters,  his  grace  had  admired  the 
princess  at  Aix  and  Spa,  who,  with  all  her 
vast  experience  of  life  and  long  years  of 
widowhood,  was  only  a  little  over  forty, 
and  speaks  herself  of  her  beaux  yeux. 

From  the  time  of  the  election  of  the 
Princess  Daschkof,  in  1789,  the  society 
has  always  had  a  Russian  membership, 
generally  from  among  the  members  of  the 
St.  Petersburg  Academy.  In  1864  it  was 
presented  with  a  superb  copy  of  the  Codex 
Sinaiticus,  published  in  St.  Petersburg  in 
1862,  from  the  parchment  rolls  found  by 
Tischendorf  in  the  monastery  of  St.  Cath 
arine  on  Mount  Sinai. 

A  day  never  to  be  forgotten  by  the 
members  of  the  Philosophical  Society — 
and  there  are  some  persons  living  whose 
memory  runs  back  to  that  period — was 
that  upon  which  the  Marquis  de  Lafayette 


AMERICAN    PHILOSOPHICAL    SOCIETY.        143 

was  welcomed  to  its  hall,  on  his  return  to 
America  in  1824.  No  words  can  more 
fitly  describe  the  emotions  of  the  hour, 
certainly  none  can  bring  back  more  per 
fectly  the  aroma  of  that  olden  time  adula 
tion,  than  the  address  of  welcome  pro 
nounced,  on  this  occasion,  by  Mr.  Charles 
J.  Ingersoll : 

"  America  does  not  forget  the  romantic  forthcoming 
of  the  most  generous,  consistent,  and  heroic  of  the 
knights  of  the  old  world  to  the  rescue  of  the  new. 
She  has  always  dwelt  delighted  on  the  constancy  of  the 
nobleman  who  could  renounce  titles  and  wealth  for  more 
historical  and  philanthropic  honors ;  the  commander  re 
nouncing  power,  who  never  shed  a  drop  of  blood  for 
conquest  or  vainglory.  She  has  often  trembled,  but 
never  blushed,  for  her  oriental  champion,  when  tried  by 
the  alternate  caresses  and  rage  of  the  most  terrific  mobs, 
and  imposing  monarchs.  She  knows  that  his  hospitable 
mansion  was  the  shrine  at  which  her  citizens  in  France 
consecrated  their  faith  in  independence.  Invited  to 
revisit  the  scenes  of  his  first  eminence,  the  very  idolatry 
of  welcome  abounds  with  redeeming  characteristics  of 
self-government.  .  .  .  They  raise  him  before  the  world 
as  its  image,  and  bear  him  through  illuminated  cities 
and  widely-cultivated  regions,  all  redolent  with  festivity 
and  every  device  of  hospitality  and  entertainment, 
where,  when  their  independence  was  declared,  there 
was  little  else  than  wilderness  and  war." 


144      THROUGH    COLONIAL    DOORWAYS. 

Could  tongue  or  pen  say  more  ? 

An  old  Philadelphia  lady,  who,  in  her 
youth,  had  the  honor  of  walking  to  church 
with  Lafayette,  vividly  recalls  her  keen  dis 
appointment  when  she  first  saw  him, — 
short  and  stout,  not  by  any  means  the 
typical  hero  of  her  romantic  dreams.  His 
son,  George  Washington  Lafayette,  was 
with  him,  and  at  a  dinner  given  him,  when 
called  upon  to  respond  to  a  toast,  arose, 
and,  struggling  with  his  emotion  and  his 
feeble  command  of  English,  placed  his 
hand  upon  his  heart,  and  said,  "  I  am  zo 
happy  to  be  ze  son  of  my  fadder  !" — words 
which  so  touched  the  sympathetic  chord 
in  the  hearts  of  all  present  that  they  felt 
that  the  entire  vocabulary  of  the  language 
could  have  furnished  him  with  no  more 
fitting  phrase. 

Among  later  members  of  the  society 
have  been  such  men  as  Noah  Webster, 
Josiah  Quincy,  Washington  Irving,  Elisha 
Kent  Kane,  the  Arctic  explorer,  the  Count 
de  Lesseps,  Mr.  Gladstone,  Dr.  Oliver 
Wendell  Holmes,  George  Bancroft,  the 
historian,  James  Russell  Lowell,  and  the 


AMERICAN    PHILOSOPHICAL    SOCIETY.        145 

two  great  naturalists,  Louis  Agassiz,  and 
Joseph  Leidy,  both  of  whom,  with  their  vast 
learning,  retained  through  life  a  childlike 
frankness  and  simplicity  that  endeared  them 
to  all  who  approached  them.     Those  who 
met  Professor  Agassiz  by  the  sea,  during 
his  vacation  seasons,  and  heard  from  his 
own  lips  of  the  wonders  of  the  shore,  and 
those  who  listened  to  a  popular  lecture  of 
Dr.  Leidy,  in  which  he  described  the  life 
and  customs  of  the  minute  creatures  to  be 
found  in  a  drop  of  pond  water,  will  always 
rejoice  that  it  was  their  privilege  to  journey 
even   a  little  way  into   the   fairy-land  of 
science  with  such  masters  for  their  guides. 
Of    the   pleasure    and    profit   of   a    more 
thorough    penetration    into    its    mysteries 
and  enchantments  under  such  preceptors, 
those  who  were  fortunate  enough  to  be 
numbered  among  the  students  of  Agassiz 
and  Leidy  speak  with  enthusiasm. 

The  Philosophical  Society,  grown  gray 
and  venerable,  now  celebrates,  May,  1893, 
its  one  hundred  and  fiftieth  birthday.  Al 
though  numbering  a  large  corps  of  native 
and  foreign  members,  working  in  various 
G  k  13 


146      THROUGH    COLONIAL    DOORWAYS. 

branches  of  knowledge,  and  contributing  to 
its  regularly  issued  publications  valuable 
papers,  the  present  fraternity  feel  that  the 
society's  proudest  claim  to  distinction  lies 
in  the  fact  that  it  fostered  literature,  science, 
and  invention  in  the  young  nation,  and 
thus  became  the  alma  mater  of  many  in 
stitutions  that  have  gone  forth  from  its 
protecting  arms  to  become,  in  their  turn, 
centfes  of  light  and  usefulness. 


E&B8TEES 


1^|F  the  impulse  towards  learning-  early 
I  given  by  the  American  Philosophi 
cal  Society  has  found  expression  in 
Philadelphia,  and  other  cities,  in  his 
torical  societies,  scientific  schools,  acade 
mies  of  natural  science,  and  kindred  insti 
tutions,  its  more  genial  and  social  side  has 
long  been  represented  in  the  city  of  its 
birth  by  the  Wistar  Parties. 

As  this  old  club  has,  within  a  few  years, 
been  reorganized,  it  may  be  interesting  to 
turn  back  to  the  period  of  its  inception, 
and  even  further  back  into  the  past  century, 
when  Dr.  Caspar  Wistar  held,  at  his  own 
house,  those  informal  gatherings  to  which 
the  Wistar  Parties  of  to-day  owe  their 
name.  How  large  a  place  this  club  filled  in 


148      THROUGH    COLONIAL    DOORWAYS. 

the  social  life  of  the  period  may  be  gathered 
from  the  fact  that  most  Philadelphians  of 
distinction,  if  not  actual  members,  were  its 
frequent  guests,  while  all  strangers  of  note 
were  introduced  into  the  circle  of  choice 
spirits, — choice  in  the  full  sense  of  the 
word,  because  chosen  for  particular  gifts 
or  attainments,  the  original  Wistar  Club 
being  composed  of  members  of  the  Ameri 
can  Philosophical  Society,  a  close  organi 
zation  that  has  ever  striven  to  keep  its  eye 
single  to  the  interests  of  science,  literature, 
art,  history,  and  the  promotion  of  all  use 
ful  knowledge.  Although  Silas  Deane, 
the  Marquis  de  Chastellux,  and  John 
Adams  grow  quite  enthusiastic  when  de 
scribing  the  luxurious  living  prevalent 
among  "  the  nobles  of  Pennsylvania,"  the 
latter  admits,  with  what  in  a  New-Eng- 
lander  may  be  considered  rare  generosity, 
that  there  was  something  to  be  found  here 
better  than  our  high  living,  as  he  speaks 
of  the  "  high  thinking"  of  some  of  those 
old  Philadelphians,  in  one  of  his  charming 
letters  to  his  wife  which  are  only  less 
charming  than  her  own. 


THE    WISTAR    PARTIES.  I4Q 

That  John  Adams  does  not  mention 
Dr.  Wistar's  hospitable  house,  and  the 
company  met  there,  is  attributable  to  the 
fact  that  the  seat  of  government,  and  with 
it  John  Adams  as  its  head,  removed  from 
Philadelphia  to  Washington  about  the  time 
that  these  receptions  began. 

The  Wistar  Parties  have  frequently  been 
spoken  of  as  first  held  on  Sunday,  which 
erroneous  impression  was  probably  due  to 
the  fact  that  Dr.  Wistar's  family  and  friends 
were  in  the  habit  of  dropping  in  upon  him 
on  Sunday  evenings,  knowing  him  to  be 
more  at  leisure  then  than  through  the 
week.  The  following  account,  from  the 
pen  of  Dr.  Hugh  L.  Hodge,  entirely  dis 
proves  the  Sunday  origin  of  these  parties, 
which  were  begun  before  Dr.  Wistar's 
second  marriage :  * 

"  His  [Dr.  Wistar's]  house  had  become  the  centre  of 
the  literary  and  scientific  society  of  Philadelphia.  He 
was  in  the  habit  of  receiving  his  friends  to  a  frugal 
entertainment  every  Saturday  evening.  To  these  re 
unions  the  most  distinguished  foreign  visitors  in  the 

*  Dr.  Wistar  married,  in  1798,  Elizabeth  Mifflin, 
granddaughter  of  John  Mifflin,  the  Councillor. 


I5O       THROUGH    COLONIAL  DOORWAYS. 

city  brought  introductions,  and  the  most  intellectual  of 
the  professional  residents  gathered. 

"  Mrs.  Bache,  a  very  superior  and  high-toned  woman, 
had,  previous  to  her  marriage  [in  1797],  kept  house  for 
her  brother  for  several  years,  during  which  time  she, 
with  her  friend  Miss  Eddy,  afterwards  Mrs.  Dr.  Hosack, 
of  New  York,  had  the  great  pleasure  and  advantage  of 
attending  these  remarkable  Saturday  evening  meetings." 

These  early  reunions  were  informal,  but 
as  years  rolled  on  a  pleasant  custom  crys 
tallized  into  an  established  usage,  the  same 
friends  meeting,  week  after  week,  in  Dr. 
Wistar's  house,  at  the  southwest  corner  of 
Fourth  and  Prune  Streets,  whose  beautiful 
garden  extended  to  St.  Mary's  church-yard. 
The  entertainment  was  simple,  as  the  host's 
idea  was  an  intellectual  rather  than  a  con 
vivial  gathering.  Tea,  coffee,  and  other  light 
refreshments  were  offered  to  the  guests ; 
ice-creams,  raisins,  and  almonds  were  later 
added  to  the  regale.  Even  then  the  name 
of  Sybarite  could  not  be  applied  to  those 
early  convives :  the  terrapin  and  oyster 
decadence  was  of  much  later  date.  A 
table  was  seldom  spread.  The  number  of 
guests  varied  from  ten  to  fifty,  but  usually 
included  between  fifteen  and  twenty-five 


THE   WISTAR    PARTIES.  151 

persons.  The  invitations  were  commenced 
in  October  or  November,  and  continued 
to  March  or  April.  During  this  period 
Dr.  Wistar  welcomed  to  his  home,  each 
week,  his  old  friends  and  colleagues,  and 
any  strangers  whom  they  chose  to  bring 
with  them. 

In  1804  Dr.  Wistar  issued  an  invitation 
to  his  friends  to  meet  Baron  von  Hum- 
boldt,  the  great  naturalist,  and  his  young 
friend  the  botanist  Bonpland,  who  stopped 
in  Philadelphia  on  their  return  from  a 
scientific  expedition  through  Mexico  and 
the  West  Indies.  Here  also  was  intro 
duced  the  latest  sensation,  in  the  form  of 
Captain  Riley,  long  a  prisoner  among  the 
Arabs  ;  also  the  learned  and  eccentric  Dr. 
Mitchill,  first  Surgeon-General  of  New 
York,  later  satirized  by  Halleck  and  Drake 
in  "  The  Croakers  :" 

"  We  hail  thee  !  — mammoth  of  the  State, 
Steam  frigate  on  the  waves  of  physic, 
Equal  in  practice  or  debate 

To  cure  the  nation  or  the  phthisic  !" 

Dr.  Hosack,  of  the  same  city,  who  was 
present  at  the  fatal  duel  between  Hamilton 


152      THROUGH    COLONIAL    DOORWAYS. 

and  Burr,  was  another  early  guest ;  while 
under  the  formal  organization  of  1818,  and 
in  a  time  nearer  our  own,  England's  most 
brilliant  novelist  recalls  an  evening  spent 
at  what  he  is  pleased  to  call  a  "  Whister 
party." 

It  is  not  strange  that  Philadelphians 
were  glad  to  take  the  guests  of  the  city 
to  these  parties,  where  was  gathered  to 
gether,  both  in  the  last  century  and  in  this, 
the  best  that  our  New  World  civilization 
could  produce,  whether  of  talent  and  learn 
ing  or  of  courtly  grace  and  good  breeding, 
and  here  down  all  the  varied  years  has 
flashed  that  genial  flow  of  wit  without 
which  no  social  gathering  is  complete. 
Here,  in  early  days,  came  the  learned  and 
witty  Abbe  Correa  de  Serra,  Mr.  Samuel 
Breck,  of  Boston,  and  Dr.  John  W.  Francis, 
of  New  York,  whose  wit  and  social  qualities 
were  said  to  resemble  those  of  the  much- 
loved  Lamb  ;  and  later  came  Robert  Walsh 
and  Joseph  Hopkinson,  both  distinguished 
for  their  brilliant  colloquial  abilities,  while 
Nicholas  Biddle  would  save  for  the  learned 
brotherhood  his  freshest  bon  mot,  and  Dr. 


THE  WISTAR    PARTIES.  153 

Nathaniel  Chapman  would  bring  hither  his 
most  irresistible  witticism. 

If  the  older  physicians,  whose  portraits 
were  recently  collected  at  the  centenary 
of  the  College  of  Physicians,  could  step 
down  from  their  frames,  after  the  fashion 
of  a  scene  in  a  well-known  drama,  we 
should  have  before  us,  /;/  propria  persona, 
a  number  of  Dr.  Wistar's  guests  of  the 
medical  fraternity.  Presumably  among 
these  was  Dr.  Benjamin  Rush,  who  has 
been  called  the  American  Sydenham,  but 
who  combined  so  many  gifts  that,  like 
certain  plants  of  various  characteristics,  it 
is  almost  impossible  to  classify  him.  Per 
haps  in  a  larger  sense  than  it  can  be  said 
of  most  men,  even  of  the  good  physician, 
he  belonged  to  humanity.* 

A  frequent  guest  was  Dr.  Adam  Kuhn, 
who  studied  in  Edinburgh,  and  brought 
home  treasures  of  learning  as  his  con- 

*  Dr.  Rush  himself  humorously  related  how  his 
patriotism  had  interfered  with  his  practice,  a  number 
of  persons  refusing  to  be  treated  by  him  for  yellow 
fever  for  the  very  good  reason  that  he  had  signed  the 
Declaration  of  Independence. 


154      THROUGH    COLONIAL    DOORWAYS. 

tribution  to  this  "feast  of  reason."  Here 
were  also  the  Shippens,  father  and  son, 
— both  Williams,  both  practising  at  the 
same  time,  and  both  so  eminent  that  they 
have  frequently  been  confused  by  the  his 
torian.  An  honorable  line  of  Shippens, 
in  different  callings,  but  notably  in  law  and 
medicine,  has  come  from  that  Edward 
Shippen  of  whom  Boston  was  not  worthy, 
and  who,  after  being  lashed  and  driven 
through  the  town  at  the  cart's  tail,  because, 
forsooth,  good  Puritans  couldn't  abide 
good  Quakers,  came  to  Philadelphia  in 
1693,  to  be  its  first  mayor  and  the  founder 
of  a  distinguished  family.*  Here  also 
shone  the  kindly  face  of  Dr.  Samuel  Powel 
Griffitts,  who  seems  to  have  brought  with 
him,  wherever  he  went,  an  atmosphere 
of  "  peace  and  good  will  to  men."  And 

*  Since  writing  the  above,  it  appears  upon  the  indis 
putable  authority  of  the  first  charter  for  the  city  of  Phila 
delphia,  discovered  in  1887  by  Messrs.  Edward  P.  Allin- 
son  and  Boies  Penrose,  that  the  honored  name  of  Edward 
Shippen,  which  so  long  headed  the  list  of  Philadelphia 
mayors,  must  be  relegated  to  a  second  place,  Humphrey 
Morray  having  been  the  first  mayor  of  Philadelphia. 


THE   WISTAR    PARTIES.  155 

here,  these  gatherings  being  formed  of 
men  of  various  callings  and  professions, 
came  such  lawyers  as  William  Rawle,  who 
was  ready  to  discuss  theology  as  well  as 
law, — perhaps  a  little  readier  to  talk  of 
the  one  than  of  the  other.  One  day  he 
is  writing  his  notes  on  the  Constitution  of 
the  United  States,  while  upon  another 
such  subjects  as  Original  Sin  and  the 
Evidences  of  Christianity  engage  his  ver 
satile  pen. 

Among  legal  gentlemen  who  were  fre 
quent  guests  of  Dr.  Wistar  were  Wil 
liam  Tilghman,  of  Maryland,  later  Chief 
Justice  of  Pennsylvania,  who  in  an  inter 
esting  biographical  sketch  has  embalmed 
the  memory  of  his  host ;  George  Clymer, 
statesman  and  patriot,  whose  name  is  ap 
pended  to  the  Declaration ;  and  Peter  Du 
Ponceau,  who,  although  a  Frenchman,  had 
an  ardent  admiration  for  American  insti 
tutions  and  the  primitive  simplicity  that 
characterized  the  old  Quaker  regime  in 
Philadelphia.  And  that  the  cure  of  souls 
might  not  be  neglected,  we  find  here  John 
Heckewelder,  the  Moravian  missionary,  an 


156      THROUGH    COLONIAL    DOORWAYS. 

intimate  of  Wistar,  and  a  correspondent  of 
Du  Ponceau,  who  later  translated  Hecke- 
welder's  interesting  work  on  Indian  man 
ners  and  customs  into  the  French.  Here 
also  was  John  Vaughan,  the  Unitarian  phi 
lanthropist,  of  whom  it  has  been  said  fehat 
"  he  represented  this  city  as  faithfully  as  its 
own  name  '  Brotherly  Love.'  "  Did  they 
meet  and  talk  together,  these  two  at  the 
extreme  poles  of  doctrine,  the  devout  Mo 
ravian  and  the  Arian  whose  life  was  conse 
crated  to  the  service  of  his  brother  man  ? 
If  they  met,  and  in  their  discourse  fell 
upon  such  subjects  as  engage  the  char 
acters  in  "  Paradise  Lost"  and  the  "  Divina 
Commedia,"  we  may  be  sure  that  in  their 
large  mutual  love  for  mankind  they  found 
abundant  sympathy, 

"  Nor  melted  in  the  acid  waters  of  a  creed 
The  Christian  pearl  of  charity." 

A  goodly  company,  among  whose  mem 
bers  there  is  no  one  more  worthy  to  be. re 
membered  than  the  host,  generally  known 
as  Dr.  Caspar  Wistar,  Jr.,  being  descended 
from  another  Caspar  Wistar,  who  came  to 


THE   WISTAR    PARTIES.  157 

this  country  in  1717.  We  are  informed 
by  a  German  scholar  and  a  genealogist 
that  all  the  Wisters,  whether  ter  or  tar, 
come  from  one  common  stock  in  Germany, 
where  the  name  is  written  Wiister,  and 
that  Caspar,  who  came  to  Philadelphia  in 
1717,  son  of  Hans  Caspar  and  Anna 
Katerina  Wiister  or  Wister,  in  having  a 
deed  of  conveyance  prepared  was  put 
down  Wistar  by  the  clerk.  This  mistake 
he  did  not  take  the  trouble  to  correct,  and 
from  this  first  Caspar  has  come  a  line  of 
tars,  of  which  Dr.  Caspar  Wistar,  Jr.,  was 
the  most  distinguished.  A  second  son  of 
old  Hans  Caspar  Wister,  of  Hilsbach,  Ger 
many,  coming  over  later,  had  his  papers 
made  out  properly,  according  to  the  Ger 
man  orthography  of  the  name,  and  thus 
established  the  Philadelphia  line  of  ters. 
We  venture  to  give  this  rather  lengthy 
explanation  in  view  of  the  fact  that  the 
spelling  of  Wister  has  been  a  fertile  sub 
ject  for  discussion  in  the  Quaker  City  for 
some  years,  and  because  it  is  a  most 
reasonable  one,  as  will  be  admitted  by  all 
who  have  studied  the  records  of  past 
14 


158      THROUGH    COLONIAL    DOORWAYS. 

generations.  In  old  letters  and  papers  of 
the  last  century  it  is  not  unusual  to  find  a 
surname  variously  spelled  in  the  same 
letter,  or  even  on  the  same  page.  This 
is  notably  the  case  in  the  voluminous 
"  Penn  and  Logan  Correspondence,"  where 
Jenings  and  Jennings,  Ashton  and  Asshe- 
ton,  Blaithwaite  and  Blathwayt,  used  inter 
changeably,  hopelessly  confuse  the  reader. 

A  student  of  the  schools  of  Edinburgh, 
Professor  in  the  College  of  Philadelphia, 
and  later  in  the  University,  Dr.  Wistar  has 
the  honor  of  being  the  author  of  the  first 
American  treatise  on  anatomy.  Eminent 
as  a  physician,  teacher,  and  man  of  science, 
this  large-brained  and  busy  man  found  life 
incomplete  without  the  cultivation  of  its 
social  side. 

It  is  to  be  regretted  that  Mr.  Vaughan, 
Mr.  Du  Ponceau,  or  the  learned  Dr.  Ben 
jamin  Rush,  who  at  times  used  a  pen  with 
a  humorous  nib,  or  some  of  the  other 
habitues  of  these  unique  gatherings,  have 
not  left  us  pleasant  and  gossiping  remi 
niscences  of  the  Wistar  Club,  which  would 
serve  to  render  us  as  familiar  with  these  old 


THE   WISTAR    PARTIES.  159 

figures  as  contemporaneous  writers  have 
made  us  with  the  frequenters  of  the  Kit- 
Cat  Club,  where  the  wits  of  Queen  Anne's 
time  gathered,  or  that  later  circle  at  the 
Turk's  Head,  dominated  by  the  great  burly 
figure  of  the  dictionary-maker.  Garrick, 
Reynolds,  and  all  the  rest  are  grouped 
about  him  ;  and  Boswell  is  ever  at  hand, 
taking  notes.  Did  humble  Boswell  realize 
that  he  was  painting  pictures  for  the  future, 
as  well  as,  even  better  than,  the  elegant 
Sir  Joshua,  who  sat  near  him  ?  Goldsmith 
was  at  it  too,  giving  us  life  as  it  was,  not 
some  fanciful  picture  of  it ;  and  to  them 
we  owe  it  that  these  men  live  before  us 
now.  The  following  is  the  nearest  ap 
proach  that  we  can  find  to  such  a  picture, 
and  this,  from  the  pen  of  the  late  Chief 
Justice  Tilghman,  gives  us  only  one  figure, 
when  we  would  like  to  be  presented  to  the 
whole  company. 

After  dwelling  upon  the  modest  dignity 
and  bland  courtesy  of  Dr.  Wistar's  bear 
ing  as  President  of  the  Philosophical  So 
ciety,  and  the  ardor  with  which  he  incited 
its  members  to  diligence  in  collecting, 


l6o     THROUGH    COLONIAL    DOORWAYS. 

before  it  should  be  too  late,  the  perishing 
materials  of  American  history,  Mr.  Tilgh- 
man  says, — 

"  The  meetings  of  this  committee  he  [Dr.  \Vistar] 
regularly  attended.  It  was  their  custom,  after  the  busi 
ness  of  the  evening  was  concluded,  to  enter  upon  an 
unconstrained  conversation  on  literary  subjects.  Then, 
without  intending  it,  our  lamented  friend  would  insen 
sibly  take  the  lead ;  and  so  interesting  were  his  anec 
dotes,  and  so  just  his  remarks,  that,  drawing  close  to  the 
dying  embers,  we  often  forgot  the  lapse  of  time,  until 
warned  by  the  unwelcome  clock  that  we  had  entered  on 
another  day." 

Here  is  another  pen-sketch  from  a  writer 
signing  himself  "  Antiquary,"  which  has  a 
touch  of  life  in  it,  and  shows  the  good  doc 
tor's  ready  tact  in  setting  a  gauche  stranger 
at  his  ease.  Mr.  John  Vaughan  introduced 
into  the  learned  circle  what  the  narrator 
is  pleased  to  call  "  a  living,  live  Yankee,  a 
specimen  of  humanity  more  rare,"  he  says, 
"  forty  or  fifty  years  ago  than  now."  It 
would  appear  that  this  compatriot  was 
received  into  the  company  with  emotions 
similar  to  those  awakened,  later,  by  the 
advent  of  the  "American  Cousin"  in  Eng 
land. 


THE   VVISTAR    PARTIES.  l6l 

"  He  was,"  says  the  writer,  "  a  man  remarkable  for 
his  mechanical  turn  of  mind,  but  entirely  unused  to 
society.  No  workshop  could  turn  out  a  more  uncouth 
individual.  I  was  standing  near  the  door  when  John 
Vaughan  brought  him  in.  Between  the  blaze  of  light, 
the  hum  of  conversation,  and  the  number  of  well-dressed 
men,  he  was  completely  overcome,  and  sank  into  the 
first  chair  he  could  reach.  Mr.  Vaughan  could  not 
coax  him  out  of  it,  and  I  expected  every  minute  the 
door  opened  that  he  would  make  a  bolt  for  the  street. 
Presently  Dr.  Wistar,  who  had  the  happy  knack  of 
suiting  his  conversation  to  all  ages  and  classes,  was 
introduced  to  the  shy  Yankee.  Soon  the  ice  was  broken, 
and  I  saw  the  shy  mechanic  conversing  freely  with 
scientific  men,  explaining  to  them  his  views  upon  mechan 
ism,  etc." 

When,  in  1 8 1 8,  the  good  old  doctor  went 
out  to  join  "  the  innumerable  company," 
the  little  circle  here,  which  he  had  drawn 
together,  resolved  to  commemorate  the 
pleasant  meetings  at  his  house,  and  to 
keep  fresh  his  memory,  by  forming  an 
organization  called  the  Wistar  Parties. 
This  is,  in  brief,  the  raison  d'etre  of  the 
association,  as  given  by  a  subsequent  mem 
ber,  Mr.  Job  R.  Tyson,  in  his  interesting 
paper  entitled  "  Sketch  of  the  Wistar 
Party,"  read  before  that  honorable  society 
September  26,  1845.  He  says, — 
/  14* 


1 62      THROUGH    COLONIAL    DOORWAYS. 

"  I  have  ascertained  that  the  following  gentlemen,  in 
the  autumn  of  the  year  1818,  formed  themselves  into  an 
association  and  agreed  to  give  three  parties  every  year, 
during  the  season  :  William  Tilghman,  Robert  M.  Pat 
terson,  Peter  S.  Du  Ponceau,  John  Vaughan,  Reuben 
Haines,  Robert  Walsh,  Jr.,  Zacheus  Collins,  and  Thomas 
C.  James." 

There  were  only  eight  to  begin  with ;  in 
1821  the  number  had  increased  to  sixteen, 
and  in  1828  to  twenty-four. 

Mr.  Tyson  tells  us  that  two  essential  laws 
of  the  existence  of  the  organization  were, 
"first,  that  no  one  is  eligible  to  member 
ship  who  is  not  a  member  of  the  American 
Philosophical  Society ;  and,  second,  that 
unanimity  is  necessary  to  a  choice."  Nu 
merous  regulations  were  added,  u  which," 
he  says,  "  with  some  modifications,  have 
since  been  observed." 

The  number  of  Philadelphians  who 
could  be  invited  to  one  party  was  twenty, 
and  these  it  appears  were  picked  citizens, 
selected  rather  for  their  attainments  and 
attributes  than  for  their  "  long  descent." 
With  regard  to  the  number  of  strangers 
invited,  no  limit  was  set. 

The  members  were  pledged  to  attend 


THE   WISTAR    PARTIES.  163 

themselves,  and  procure  the  attendance  of 
strangers,  punctually  at  the  hour  of  eight 
o'clock ;  and  "  the  sumptuary  code  en 
joined,  as  consentaneous  with  the  scheme 
and  objects  in  view,  that  the  entertainments 
should  be  marked  by  unexpensive,  if  not 
frugal,  simplicity."  No  tea,  coffee,  cakes, 
or  wine  were  to  be  served  before  supper. 
It  was  recommended  that  the  collation 
consist  of  one  course,  and  be  so  prepared  as 
to  dispense  with  the  use  of  knives  at  table. 
No  ice-creams  were  allowed.  This  in  1828. 

In  1835  Mr.  Job  R.  Tyson  bought  Dr. 
Caspar  Wistar's  old  house,  at  Fourth  and 
Prune  Streets,  when  once  more  it  opened 
its  doors  to  the  learned  and  jovial  brother 
hood. 

In  1840  the  number  of  citizens  who 
could  be  invited  was  raised  to  forty,  while 
in  the  years  succeeding  the  organization 
of  the  club  many  guests  from  over  the 
sea,  and  from  the  different  States  of  the 
Union,  had  been  welcomed  to  the  Wistar 
Parties.  One  of  the  latter  writes, — 

"  During  my  stay  in   Philadelphia  I  was  present  at 
several  of  these  Wistar  meetings,  and  always  returned 


164      THROUGH    COLONIAL    DOORWAYS. 

from  them  with  increased  conviction  of  their  beneficial 
tendency. 

"  These  meetings  are  held  by  rotation  at  the  houses 
of  the  different  members.  The  conversation  is  generally 
literary  or  scientific,  and,  as  the  party  is  usually  very 
large,  it  can  be  varied  at  pleasure.  Philosophers  eat 
like  other  men,  and  the  precaution  of  an  excellent 
supper  is  by  no  means  found  to  be  superfluous.  It  acts, 
too,  as  a  gentle  emollient  on  the  acrimony  of  debate. 
No  man  can  say  a  harsh  thing  with  his  mouth  full  of 
turkey,  and  disputants  forget  their  differences  in  unity 
of  enjoyment." 

Better  known  abroad  in  the  early  part 
of  the  century  than  any  other  American 
city,  all  travellers  of  consequence  came  to 
Philadelphia.  Among  these  we  find  such 
men  as  General  Moreau,  counted  after 
Bonaparte  the  greatest  general  in  the 
French  Republic :  the  younger  Murat, 
who  married  Miss  Fraser,  of  South  Caro 
lina;  the  Marquis  de  Grouchy,  whose  name 
will  be  forever  associated  with  the  defeat  of 
Waterloo  ;  the  poet  Moore,  whose  singing 
drew  tears  from  the  beautiful  eyes  of  Mrs. 
Joseph  Hopkinson ;  the  Prince  de  Canino, 
son-in-law  of  Joseph  Bonaparte,  ex-king 
of  Spain,  who,  himself  residing  at  Borden- 
town  until  1830,  was  doubtless  a  guest  of 


THE   WISTAR    PARTIES.  165 

the  Wistar  Association,  although,  after  the 
fashion  of  princes,  it  was  his  pleasure  to 
entertain  rather  than  to  be  entertained. 
These  and  many  more,  including  President 
Madison,  and  the  witty  and  able  Virginia 
gentleman  William  Short,  who,  as  secre 
tary  of  legation  under  Thomas  Jefferson, 
charge-d'affaires  to  the  French  Republic, 
and  minister  to  Spain  and  the  Netherlands, 
had  seen  much  of  foreign  official  and 
social  life.  An  acquaintance  of  Talley 
rand,  himself  a  diplomatist,  life  abroad 
offered  Mr.  Short  many  attractions,  which 
a  friend  and  contemporary  assures  us  were 
more  than  balanced  by  the  terrors  of  the 
sea,  which  menaced  him  in  the  form  of 
sea-sickness.  This  gentleman,  a  surviving 
member  of  the  Wistar  Association  of  1837, 
recalls  no  social  intercourse  in  Old-World 
cities  more  delightful  than  that  of  this 
informal  club. 

While  on  a  visit  to  Philadelphia  in  1825, 
the  Duke  of  Saxe-Weimar  makes  the 
following  entry  in  his  journal : 

"  At  Mr.  Walsh's  I  found  a  numerous  assembly, 
mostly  of  scientific  and  literary  gentlemen.  This  as- 


1 66     THROUGH    COLONIAL    DOORWAYS. 

sembly  is  called  '  Wistar  Party.'  .  .  .  The  conversation 
generally  relates  to  literary  and  scientific  topics.  I  un 
expectedly  met  Mr.  E.  Livingston  in  this  assembly.  I 
was  also  introduced  to  the  mayor  of  the  city,  Mr.  [Joseph] 
Watson,  as  well  as  to  most  of  the  gentlemen  present, 
whose  interesting  conversation  afforded  me  much  enter 
tainment." 

This  German  nobleman,  who  was  well 
"wined  and  dined"  in  old  Philadelphia, 
seems  to  have  possessed  a  happy  faculty 
of  replying  aptly  to  the  pretty  compliments 
paid  him  and  his  country  by  Judge  Peters, 
Mr.  Charles  J.  Ingersoll,  and  other  social 
magnates  of  the  period.  To  the  toast 
"  Weimar,  the  native  country  of  letters,"  he 
replied,  with  ready  wit,  "  Pennsylvania,  the 
asylum  of  unfortunate  Germans."  Can  we 
not  hear  the  laughter  and  applause  that 
greeted  that  toast?  They  were  not  al 
lowed  to  subside,  either,  as  the  venerable 
Judge  Peters  followed  the  toast  with  a 
song  which  he  had  composed  the  previous 
evening,  and  which  he  sang  with  great 
vivacity  and  spirit.  Are  there  any  such 
gatherings  now,  and  do  our  octogenarians 
sing  songs  of  their  own  composing  with 
vivacity  ? 


THE   WISTAR    PARTIES.  l6/ 

The  Duke  of  Saxe-Weimar  describes 
another  VVistar  Party,  this  at  the  house  of 
Colonel  Clement  C.  Biddle,  at  which  John 
Quincy  Adams,  then  President  of  the 
United  States,  was  a  guest.  Of  him  he 
says, — 

"  The  President  is  about  sixty  years  old,  of  rather 
short  stature,  with  a  bald  head,  and  of  a  very  plain  and 
worthy  appearance.  He  speaks  little,  but  what  he  does 
speak  is  to  the  purpose.  I  must  confess  that  I  seldom 
in  my  life  felt  so  true  and  sincere  a  reverence  as  at  the 
moment  when  this  honorable  gentleman,  whom  eleven 
millions  of  people  have  thought  worthy  to  elect  as  their 
chief  magistrate,  shook  hands  with  me." 

In  the  same  year  Chief  Justice  Tilghman 
records  a  Wistar  Party  held  at  his  house, 
at  which  were  present  such  citizens  as 
Roberts  Vaux,  Mathew  Carey,  the  Irish 
protectionist,  his  son  Henry  C.  Carey, 
political  economist  and  writer,  Joseph  Hop- 
kinson,  the  elder  Peale,  who  had  studied 
at  the  Royal  Academy  in  London  and 
came  home  to  paint  portraits  of  Washing 
ton  and  his  generals,  Dr.  Frederick  Beas- 
ley,  and  many  more,  with  a  sprinkling  of 
foreigners, — Mr.  Pedersen,  Minister  from 


1 68      THROUGH    COLONIAL    DOORWAYS. 

Denmark  to  the  United  States,  the  Prince 
de  Canino,  who  was  an  enthusiastic  orni 
thologist,  Colonel  Beckwith,  who  had  left 
a  leg  upon  the  field  of  Waterloo,  and 
several  French  chevaliers.  The  whole 
company,  numbering  about  one  hundred, 
was  regaled  with  chicken  salad,  oysters, 
ices,  wine,  punch,  and  the  like,  at  an  ex 
pense  of  twenty-four  dollars  and  eighty- 
nine  cents.  This  moderate  sum,  the  ac 
curate  transcriber  tells  us,  included  the 
whiskey  for  the  punch,  the  spermaceti 
candles,  oil  for  the  lamps,  and  extra  fire  in 
one  room. 

Later  in  the  history  of  the  Wistar  Club, 
after  the  good  founders  had  gone,  and  left  it 
to  its  own  devices,  serious  innovations  were 
made  in  the  old  sumptuary  code,  whereupon 
severe  strictures  were  instituted  against 
the  dainty  fare  set  before  the  wise  men,  in 
the  local  journals  and  elsewhere.  One  of 
these  attacks  upon  the  Wistarians  appeared 
in  the  then  recently  established  Daily 
Courier,  and  is  interesting  not  only  because 
the  slashing  editorial  of  the  young  writer 
ended  the  brief  career  of  his  paper,  but 


THE   WISTAR    PARTIES.  169 

because  its  demise  is  intimately  connected 
with  the  rise  of  two  prominent  journals 
of  to-day.  It  happened  that  many  of  the 
subscribers  to  the  Daily  Courier  were  mem 
bers  or  guests  of  the  Wistar  Parties.  These 
persons  instantly  withdrew  their  patronage. 
The  Courier  was  shaken  to  its  foundations, 
and  the  unfortunate  young  Scotchman, 
James  Gordon  Bennett,  whose  pen  had 
proved  too  sharp  for  Philadelphia,  sold  his 
journal  to  Mr.  Jesper  Harding,  upon  which 
the  Daily  Courier  was  merged  in  the 
Pennsylvania  Inquirer,  and  Mr.  Bennett, 
having  transplanted  his  talents  to  the  more 
congenial  soil  of  New  York,  later  em 
ployed  them  in  founding  the  New  York 
Herald* 

Written  invitations  to  the  Wistar  Parties 
seem  to  have  been  used  up  to  1835,  when 
Mr.  Vaughan  first  speaks  of  a  printed  in 
vitation.  This  bore  the  quaint  queued 
head  of  Dr.  Wistar,  and  is  in  all  respects 
similar  to  that  issued  by  the  Wistar  As 
sociation  redivivus  of  1886. 

*  Casper  Souder's  History  of  Chestnut  Street. 
H  15 


I/O     THROUGH    COLONIAL    DOORWAYS. 

In  1838  and  1839  printed  lists  appeared, 
naming  the  hosts  of  the  season,  and  giving 
the  dates  of  the  several  entertainments. 
To  these  were  appended  sumptuary  regu 
lations,  which  were  of  course  born  to  die. 
Just  when  the  terrapin,  game,  croquette, 
and  like  dainties  replaced  the  original  de 
canters,  flanked  with  ice,  cakes,  and  one 
substantial  course,  Mr.  Tyson  does  not 
record.  When  the  terrapin  came,  however, 
it  came  to  stay,  until  the  hot  discussions 
incident  to  the  disturbances  of  the  late 
civil  war  routed  it  and  the  guests  alike. 

Thackeray  carried  away  from  Phila 
delphia  such  pleasant  recollections  of  the 
Wistar  Parties,  and  the  mirth  and  good 
cheer  there  enjoyed,  that  he  thus  refers  to 
them  in  a  letter  written  to  Mr.  William 
B.  Reed  from  Washington  in  1853.  He 
has  just  heard  of  the  death  of  his  friend 
Mr.  William  Peter,  British  Consul  to  Phila 
delphia. 

"  Saturday  I  was  to  have  dined  with  him,  and  Mrs. 
Peter  wrote  saying  he  was  ill  with  influenza  :  he  was  in 
bed  with  his  last  illness,  and  there  were  to  be  no  more 
Whister  parties  for  him.  Will  Whister  himself,  hospi- 


THE   WISTAR    PARTIES.  1^1 

table  pig-tailed  shade,  welcome  him  to  Hades  ?  And 
will  they  sit  down — no,  stand  up — to  a  ghostly  supper, 
devouring  the  Kjtfiftovs  i/w^af  of  oysters  and  all  sorts  of 
birds?" 

Something  else  than  the  mighty  oysters 
impressed  the  genial  novelist,  and  that  was 
the  face  and  figure  of  John  Irwin,  a  well- 
known  head-waiter,  who  so  resembled  the 
terrapin  over  which  he  presided  that  Thack 
eray  has,  in  a  few  rapid  pencil-strokes, 
put  him  down  on  paper  as  a  fine  specimen 
of  a  diamond-back.  Those  who  still  re 
member  Irwin's  great  paunch  and  shining 
face  will  recognize  his  portrait  in  Mr. 
Thackeray's  "  Orphan  of  Pimlico."  Thus, 
this  latter-day  Bogle,  although  there  arose 
in  his  time  no  poet,  like  Nicholas  Biddle, 
to  embalm  his  virtues  in  humorous  verse, 
has,  like  the  "  colorless  colored  man,"  been 
immortalized  by  the  hand  of  genius. 

The  pleasing  side  of  Philadelphia  social 
life  must  have  left  its  impress  upon  the 
receptive  mind  of  Thackeray,  as  he  writes 
from  Switzerland  in  July  of  the  same  year, — 

"  Since  my  return  from  the  West,  it  was  flying  from 
London  to  Paris,  and  vice  versa,  dinners  right  and  left, 


THROUGH    COLONIAL    DOORWAYS. 


parties  every  night.  If  I  had  been  in  Philadelphia  I 
could  scarcely  have  been  more  feasted.  Oh,  you  un 
happy  Reed  !  I  see  you  (after  that  little  supper  with 
McMichael)  on  Sunday  at  your  own  table,  when  we 
had  that  good  Sherry-  Madeira,  turning  aside  from  the 
wine-cup  with  your  pale  face  !  That  cup  has  gone  down 
this  well  so  often  (meaning  my  own  private  cavity)  that 
I  wonder  the  cup  isn't  broken,  and  the  well  as  well  as 
it  is.  .  .  .  I  always  remember  you  and  yours,  and  honest 
Mac,  and  Wharton,  and  Lewis,  and  kind  fellows  who 
have  been  kind  to  me  and  I  hope  will  be  kind  to  me 
again." 

The  "Mac"  is  evidently  Mr.  Morton 
McMichael,  to  whose  whiskey  punch  Mr. 
Thackeray  alludes  with  tenderness  in  an 
other  letter,  and  who  is  described  by  all 
who  knew  him  as  the  most  genial  of  men, 
a  very  "  king  of  good  fellows."  So  great 
were  his  social  talents  that,  like  Shen- 
stone's  Frenchwoman  who  could  "  draw 
wit  out  of  a  stone,"  he  possessed  the 
power  to  redeem  from  stagnation  the 
dullest  of  dinners  by  his  happy  faculty  of 
giving  his  best  and  leading  others  to  do 
the  same. 

The  "  Lewis"  alluded  to  by  Mr.  Thack 
eray  is  Mr.  William  D.  Lewis,  more  recently 
dead  ;  another  delightful  dinner-talker. 


THE  WISTAR    PARTIES.  1/3 

Possessed  of  rare  bonhomie,  and  furnished 
with  a  fund  of  anecdotes  of  travel, — for 
he  had  lived  some  years  in  Russia, — he 
brought  mirth  and  cheer  into  the  circles  to 
which  he  was  welcomed,  and  was  even 
known,  on  occasions,  to  sing  some  famil 
iar  household  verses,  as  "  Home,  Sweet 
Home,"  in  the  Russian  language,  to  the 
great  amusement,  if  not  to  the  edification, 
of  his  hearers. 

In  1842,  Mr.  Tyson  records  only  two  of 
the  original  members  of  1 8 1 8  still  surviving, 
Dr.  R.  M.  Patterson  and  Robert  Walsh. 
The  kindly  face  of  Mr.  Vaughan  (Johnny 
Vaughan,  as  his  intimates  called  him),  first 
Dean  of  the  Wistar  Association,  had  only 
lately  disappeared  from  the  circle.  Al 
though  death  had  sadly  thinned  the  ranks 
of  original  membership,  a  number  of 
honored  names  filled  the  blanks  :  among 
these,  Horace  Binney,  William  M.  Mere 
dith,  John  Sergeant,  Joshua  Francis  Fisher, 
Judge  Kane,  Langdon  Cheves,  from  South 
Carolina,  Thomas  Isaac  Wharton,  and, 
there  always  being  a  large  proportion  of 
medical  men,  such  distinguished  sons  of 
15* 


174     THROUGH    COLONIAL    DOORWAYS. 

the  healing  art  as  Dr.  Robert  Hare,  Dr. 
Thomas  C.  James,  Dr.  John  K.  Mitchell, 
Dr.  Isaac  Hays,  physician  and  writer,  Dr. 
Franklin  Bache  and  his  friend  Dr.  George 
B.  Wood  closely  associated  with  him  in 
medical  literature,  Dr.  Charles  D.  Meigs, 
and  Moncure  Robinson,  Esq.,  who,  among 
the  many  who  have  come  and  gone,  still 
[1887]  recalls  delightful  evenings  spent  at 
the  Wistar  Parties.  Dr.  Isaac  Lea  was  in 
1843  Dean  of  the  association,  which  office 
he  held  until  the  stirring  events  of  '60  and 
'6 1  scattered  its  members,  not  again  to 
unite  until  1886,  within  a  few  months  of 
his  death,  when  he  was  succeeded  in  this 
office  by  his  son,  Mr.  Henry  C.  Lea.* 

*  The  Saturday  Night  Parties,  held  during  the  war  and 
for  some  years  after,  have  been  spoken  of  as  direct  suc 
cessors  of  the  Wistar  Association.  These,  however,  were 
not  composed  of  members  of  the  Philosophical  Society, 
and  the  discussions  at  the  meetings  naturally  partook  of 
the  heat  and  excitement  of  the  hour,  rather  than  of  the 
calmer  literary  and  scientific  debate  for  which  the  Wistar 
Parties  were  designed.  The  only  lineal  descendants  of 
the  Wistar  Association  of  1818  are  the  parties  recently 
organized,  which  bear  the  name  of  the  great  physician 
and  scientist  in  whose  honor  they  were  founded. 


THE   WISTAR    PARTIES.  1/5 

Writing  during  this  hiatus  of  many 
years,  Dr.  George  B.  Wood  says, — 

"  I  have  always  regarded  the  Wistar  Club  not  merely 
as  an  ornamental  feature  of  Philadelphia  society,  but  as 
a  very  useful  institution ;  bringing  as  it  did  persons 
together  of  various  pursuits,  who  would  not  otherwise 
perhaps  have  met,  thus  removing  prejudices  and  concili 
ating  friendly  feeling;  and,  by  a  regulation  regarding 
strangers  which  gave  each  member  the  right  to  intro 
duce  one  or  more  to  the  meetings,  facilitating  their  inter 
course  with  citizens,  and  contributing  to  the  reputation 
of  our  city  for  hospitality." 

It  may  be  that  these  words  hold  something 
of  a  prophecy  for  the  future,  as  well  as  a 
resume  of  the  past ;  and  now  that  the  old- 
time  invitation,  bearing  the  "  hospitable 
pig-tailed"  head  of  the  founder,  has  once 
more  begun  to  circulate,  an  important  in 
fluence  may  be  exercised  by  it,  in  drawing 
together  the  best  and  ablest  of  the  various 
professions  and  callings  of  this  city,  and  in 
affording,  as  of  old,  a  pleasant  and  informal 
means  of  entertaining  stranger  guests. 
Such  a  club  as  this  forecasts  a  meeting- 
ground  where  British  and  Continental  sci 
entists  and  literati,  professional  men  and 
men  of  affairs,  may  clasp  hands  with 


176     THROUGH    COLONIAL    DOORWAYS. 

American  workers  on  the  same  lines ; 
where  the  large  philanthropy  of  England 
may  meet  an  even  larger  New-World  phi 
lanthropy  ;  where,  under  some  hospitable 
roof,  questions  in  social  and  political 
science,  or  the  latest  discovery  in  chem 
istry  or  physics,  may  be  discussed  over 
croquettes  and  oysters,  and  with  a  dash 
of  hock  or  sherry  (no  sparkling  wines 
are  allowed)  the  seas  that  wash  widely- 
separated  shores  shall  be  bridged  in  an 
instant,  and,  meeting  on  some  congenial 
ground  of  knowledge,  of  thought,  or  of 
interest,  Old  and  New  World  denizens 
shall  feel  the  delightful  thrill  of  a  common 
brotherhood. 


A  BUNDLE 
OF  OLD  LOVE  LETTERS 


GRANGE  it  is  that  the  maiden 
meditations  of  more  than  two  cen 
turies  ago  should  have  recently 
been  brought  to  light  in  the  love- 
letters  of  Dorothy  Osborne,  so 
full  of  womanly  tenderness,  so  humorous, 
so  grave  and  gay  by  turns,  and  so  valuable 
for  the  spirited  pictures  they  give  of  the 
life  and  personages  of  the  day. 

Among  stacks  of  dry-as-dust  manu 
scripts,  awaiting  the  discriminating  inspec 
tion  of  the  antiquarian,  are  doubtless  other 
letters  of  sentiment  worthy  of  the  world's 
reading,  even  if  there  are  few  equal  in 
grace  and  style  to  those  of  the  lovely 
mistress  of  Chicksands.  A  few  such  un- 

m  177 


1/        THROUGH    COLONIAL    DOORWAYS. 

known  or  forgotten  love-letters  have  come 
under  the  observation  of  the  writer, — 
among  these  some  yellowed  pages  traced 
by  the  hand  of  William  Penn  and  ad 
dressed  to  Hannah  Callowhill,  whose  name 
is  now  handed  down  to  Philadelphians  by 
the  street  which  bears  her  family  name, 
but  who  was  known  to  her  contemporaries 
as  a  woman  of  strong  character  and  noble 
qualities,  well  fitted  to  be  a  helpmeet  to 
the  good  Proprietary.  These  letters  form 
pleasant  reading  for  a  leisure  hour,  not 
only  on  account  of  their  quaint  simplicity, 
but  also  because  of  the  insight  they  give 
into  the  delicate  and  refined  nature  of  the 
man  who  wrote  them.* 

We  are  wont  to  think  of  the  founder  of 
the  Commonwealth  of  Pennsylvania  as  a 
man  deeply  immersed  in  religious  ques 
tions,  in  legal  business,  land  surveys  and 
titles, — indeed,  in  all  that  affected  the  wel 
fare  of  the  little  colony  that  he  established 
on  the  banks  of  the  Delaware.  To  picture 
him  as  an  ardent  lover  requires  some  im- 

*  From  MS.  letters  in  possession  of  the  Historical 
Society  of  Pennsylvania. 


A    BUNDLE    OF    OLD    LOVE    LETTERS.       179 

agination,  especially  at  a  period  when  the 
early  romance  of  his  life  was  buried  in 
the  grave  of  his  beloved  Gulielma,  and 
he  figures  on  the  pages  of  history  as  a 
widower,  past  middle  age,  with  three  chil 
dren.  Yet  among  his  letters  to  his  be 
trothed  are  some  that  glow  with  all  the 
warmth  and  ardor  of  youthful  affection, 
while,  as  befits  a  man  of  his  years  and 
position,  they  contain  wise  reflections  on 
life,  and  passages  marked  by  the  prudence, 
the  forethought,  and  the  practical  grasp 
that  come  with  riper  age ;  and  always  they 
are  deeply  and  sincerely  religious. 

This  Quaker  lover  does  not  write  a 
sonnet  to  the  eyebrows  of  his  mistress, 
nor  does  he  say,  like  a  modern  widower 
whose  billet  doux  has  come  under  our 
notice,  that  he  has  "  lost  his  married  part 
ner  and  would  be  glad  to  renew  his  loss." 
He  tells  her,  in  grave  and  simple  language, 
that  it  is  for  the  qualities  of  her  heart  and 
mind  that  he  loves  her  and  desires  to 
win  her,  as  in  the  following  written  from 
Worminghurst,  Penn's  English  home,  in 
1695: 


ISO     THROUGH    COLONIAL    DOORWAYS. 

"  And  now  let  me  tell  thee,  my  Dearest,  that  tho'  there 
are  many  qualitys,  for  which  I  admire  thee,  as  well  as 
love  thee,  yet  yt  of  Compassionating  the  unhappy  is 
none  of  the  least.  And  whatsoever  pittys  has  love,  for 
it  springs  out  of  the  same  soft  ground ;  and  can  never 
fail,  as  often  as  there  is  occasion  to  try  it.  That  my 
Dearest  H.  has  been  a  Mourner,  a  Sympathizer,  an  in 
habitant  of  Dust,  and  so  wean'd  from  the  common  tastes 
of  pleasure,  yt  gratefy  other  Pallats,  does  so  much 
exalt  her  character  with  me,  yt  if  this  were  all  she 
brought,  she  must  be  a  treasure  to  yt  happy  man  yt 
has  a  Title  to  her.  And  since,  by  an  unusual  goodness, 
she  has  made  it  my  Lot,  it  shall  be  as  much  my  pleasure 
as  she  has  made  it  my  duty  to  make  her  constantly  sen 
sible  how  much  I  am  so  of  my  obligation  to  her." 

One  of  the  most  tender  of  these  missives 
includes  some  family  details  about  Billy's  * 
health,  who  "  is  lively  yet  tender"  and  has 
just  had  his  hair  cut,  and  winds  up  with 
the  following  description  of  a  most  unro- 
mantic  hamper  which  was  intended  as  an 
offering  to  the  beloved  one : 

"  I  presume  by  the  next  wagon,  there  comes  an 
Hamper  directed  to  thy  father,  the  Contents  for  thee. 

*  William  Penn,  Jr.,  who  grew  up  a  gay  young  blade 
and  distinguished  himself  by  beating  the  watch  and 
otherwise  scandalizing  the  law-abiding  citizens  of  old 
Philadelphia. 


A    BUNDLE   OF    OLD    LOVE    LETTERS.       l8l 

Viz  3  Gallons  of  light  french  Brandy,  one  of  wh'  pray 
present  thy  Mother.  I  ordered  2  Ibs  of  Chocolate  to 
keep  them  company.  My  Daughter  prays  thee  to  accept 
of  3  small  pots  of  venson,  yt  she  says  will  keep  well 
&  are  of  her  own  manufacture,  as  were  all  the  last. 
She  is  concerned  her  pig  brawn  was  not  ready  wc'h  she 
fancys  would  not  have  been  a  disagreeable  way  of  eating 
a  pig,  but  another  season  will  do.  These  are  little  things 
and  yet  would  express  tho'  meanly  Love  that  is  Great." 

Was  Letitia  Perm's  brawn  the  same  sort 
as  that  over  which  dear  old  Lamb  waxed 
so  eloquent  in  a  letter  to  his  friend  Man 
ning?  It  had  been  sent  to  him  by  the 
cook  of  Trinity  Hall  and  Caius  College, 
and  he  says  of  it, — 

"  'Tis  of  all  my  hobbies  the  supreme  in  the  eating 
way.  He  might  have  sent  sops  from  the  pan,  skimmings, 
crumpets,  chips,  hog's  lard,  the  tender  brown  judiciously 
scalped  from  a  fillet  of  veal  (dexterously  replaced  by  a 
salamander),  the  tops  of  asparagus,  fugitive  livers,  run 
away  gizzards  of  fowls,  the  eyes  of  martyred  pigs,  the 
red  spawn  of  lobsters,  leverets'  ears,  and  such  pretty 
filchings  common  to  cooks  ;  but  these  had  been  ordinary 
presents,  the  every- day  courtesies  of  dish-washers  to 
their  sweethearts.  Brawn  was  a  noble  thought." 

At  another  time  William  Penn  is  con 
cerned  about  the  health  of  his  betrothed, 
and  concludes  his  missive  with  an  earnest 
recommendation  to  her  to  take  some  pills, 
16 


1 82      THROUGH    COLONIAL    DOORWAYS. 

that  he  sends  her,  at  certain  hours  of  the 
day,  and  a  specified  medicinal  water,  to  be 
imbibed  "  three  days  before  the  full  and 
changes  of  the  moon." 

It  appears  to  have  been  a  not  unusual 
practice  among  lovers  of  this  period  to 
prescribe  for  their  sweethearts,  as  we  find 
Dorothy  Osborne  writing  about  some  in 
fusion  of  steel  in  which  she  drinks  Sir 
William  Temple's  health  every  morning. 
She  vows  that  it  makes  her  horribly  ill, 
says  that  it  is  a  "  drench  that  would  poison 
a  horse,"  and  declines  to  continue  its  use 
unless  her  lover  insists  upon  her  doing  so. 
In  another  of  her  charming  letters  she 
gives  Sir  William  many  directions  about 
the  care  of  his  precious  health,  and  even 
does  a  little  quacking  on  his  behalf,  send 
ing  him  a  new  medicine  for  his  cold,  of 
which  she  says, — 

"  'Tis  like  the  rest  of  my  medicines  :  if  it  do  no  good 
'twill  do  no  harm  and  'twill  be  no  great  trouble  to  take 
a  little  on't  now  and  then ;  for  the  taste  on't  as  it  is  not 
excellent,  so  'tis  not  very  ill." 

It  is  well  that  some  of  these  old  letters 
of  sentiment  and  domestic  life  are  left  us, 


A    BUNDLE   OF    OLD    LOVE    LETTERS.       183 

for  did  we  not  occasionally  catch  glimpses 
of  the  great  men  of  the  past  penning 
tender  messages  to  beloved  objects  (some 
times,  indeed,  spelling  them  very  ill), 
writing  about  their  children  and  sending 
them  trinkets  and  gewgaws,  they  would 
become  to  us  shadowy  personages,  very 
spectres,  and  hauntings  of  a  dream. 

To  those  who  are  only  acquainted  with 
James  Logan,  William  Penn's  young  sec 
retary,  through  his  official  correspondence 
and  endless  business  letters,  he  must  appear 
a  very  didactic  and  uninteresting  person 
age;  yet  reading  between  the  lines,  or 
scanning  a  stray  letter  addressed  to  some 
friend  or  relative,  we  catch  a  sight  of  the 
real  man,  of  like  passions  with  ourselves. 
Mrs.  Hannah  Penn,  who  survived  her 
lover's  generous  hampers  and  curious 
medical  prescriptions  and  became  a  happy 
wife  and  the  mother  of  a  brood  of  sturdy 
young  Penns,  was  well  qualified  to  be  a 
lover's  confidante,  and  to  her  James  Logan 
was  pleased  to  unburden  his  numerous 
and,  it  must  be  admitted,  unsuccessful 
love-affairs.  A  disappointed  lover  may 


184      THROUGH    COLONIAL    DOORWAYS. 

not  be  the  most  attractive  object  in  every 
day  life,  but  for  some  indefinable  reason  it 
adds  to  the  historic  interest  of  a  man, 
especially  to  the  feminine  reader,  to  know 
that  he  loved  and  wooed  in  vain  and  be 
wailed  his  fate  in  prose  or  verse.  Other 
wise,  why  should  generations  of  school 
girls  weep  over  the  sorrows  of  Werther? 
The  young  secretary  was  enamoured  of 
Letitia  Penn,  her  of  the  pig's  brawn,  and 
Rebecca  Moore,  and  several  others,  if  we 
are  to  judge  from  his  letters.  Letitia  mar 
ried  William  Aubrey,  for  whom  James 
Logan's  admiration  was  ever  after  of  the 
scantest.  His  allusion  to  his  rival's  ra 
pacity  in  money-matters,  saying  that  he 
was  "  a  tiger  for  returns,"  by  which  he 
referred  to  quit-rents  and  the  like,  may 
not  have  been  high-minded,  but  was  it  not 
natural  ?  and  also  that  he  should  have 
found  few  words  in  which  to  praise  Gov 
ernor  Evans,  whom  the  fair  Rebecca  Moore 
made  supremely  happy  ?  It  was  not, 
however,  written  in  the  book  of  fate  that 
this  excellent  Quaker  youth  should  for 
ever  woo  in  vain,  and  from  some  family 


A    BUNDLE   OF    OLD    LOVE    LETTERS.       185 

treasure-trove  there  comes  a  charming 
letter  that  succeeded  in  bringing  to  his 
side  the  lady  of  his  love,  with  whom  he 
lived  as  long  and  as  happily  as  the  princes 
and  princesses  of  fairy  lore.  After  dwell 
ing  at  length  upon  the  "  excellent  virtues" 
and  qualifications  of  this  adorable  Quaker 
maiden,  and  upon  his  ardent  desire  to 
claim  them  and  her  for  his  own,  the  writer 
says,  with  noble  self-abnegation, — 

"  Yet,  my  Dearest,  I  cannot  press  it  further,  than  thou 
with  freedom  canst  condescend  to  it,  and  enjoy  Peace 
and  Satisfaction  in  thy  own  mind,  for  without  this,  I 
cannot  so  much  as  desire  to  obtain  thee.  I  therefore 
here  resign  thee  to  that  Gracious  God,  thy  tender  and 
merciful  father,  to  whom  thy  innocent  life  and  virtuous 
inclinations  have  certainly  rendered  thee  very  dear  that 
He  may  dispose  of  thee  according  to  His  divine  Pleasure, 
and  as  it  may  best  suit  thy  happiness — humbly  imploring 
at  the  same  time,  and  beseeching  His  divine  Goodness, 
that  I  may  be  made  worthy  to  receive  thee  as  a  holy 
gift  from  his  hands :  and  then  thou  wilt  truly  prove  a 
Blessing,  and  we  shall  forever  be  happy  in  each  other."  * 

This  letter  of  the  young  secretary  is  in 
striking  contrast  to  the  overloaded  verbiage 
so  prevalent  in  that  day,  which  is  exhibited 

*  From  MS.  letter,  written  to  Miss  Sarah  Read,  of 
Philadelphia,  in  possession  of  Miss  F.  A.  Logan. 
1 6* 


1 86      THROUGH    COLONIAL    DOORWAYS. 

in  another  Colonial  letter  of  a  few  years' 
earlier  date,  and  which  reads  as  if  modelled 
on  the  style  of  Sir  Charles  Grandison. 
The  writer  of  this  last  effusion,  who  calls 
himself  the  Rev.  Elias  Keach,  apologizes 
elaborately  for  "  rushing  his  rude  and  un 
polished  lines  into  the  Heroik  and  most 
Excelent  Presence"  of  his  sweetheart, 
Mistress  Mary  Helm.  After  defining  his 
financial  status,  which  is  at  a  rather  low 
ebb,  and  giving  forth  as  his  opinion  that 
"  Pure  Righteousness  and  Zeal  exceeds 
a  portion  with  a  wife,  so  also  in  a  Hus 
band,"  Mr.  Keach  launches  his  bark  upon 
a  troubled  sea  of  rhetorical  affection,  in 
which  he  pleads  the  advantages  of  his 
person,  mind,  and  estate,  of  whose  claims 
he  never  loses  sight,  even  when  involved 
in  the  most  high-flown  metaphorical  de 
scriptions  of  the  charms  of  his  mistress. 
The  style  of  Mr.  Keach,  however,  is  not 
to  be  described.  Like  Charles  Lamb's 
favorite  dish,  it  must  be  tasted  to  be  en 
joyed.  From  the  carefully  pen-printed 
pages  before  us,  we  transcribe  the  following 
passages : 


A    BUNDLE   OF    OLD    LOVE    LETTERS.       l8/ 

"  Lady  let  me  crave  the  mantle  of  your  Virtue  the 
which  Noble  and  generous  favor  will  hide  my  naked  and 
deformed  fault  altho :  it  seems  to  be  a  renewed  coldness 
to  require  such  an  incomparable  favour  from  your  tender 
heart,  from  whom  I  have  deserved  so  little  Kindness. 
Mrs.  Mary :  Solomon  says  Childhood  and  Youth  are 
vanity ;  and  if  so  you  cannot  expect  that  in  my  youth 
which  the  gray  hairs  of  our  Age  (or  at  least  of  our  wooden 
world)  cannot  afford ;  it  is  a  common  saying  and  a  true, 
love  is  stronger  than  death,  &  it  is  as  true  a  proverb  where 
Love  cannot  go  it  will  creep — you  know  Dear  Lady,  that 
the  higher  the  sun  riseth  by  degrees  from  the  East  the  more 
influence  hath  the  power  and  heat  of  its  beams  upon  the 
Earth,  so  ever  since  I  saw  the  sun-rise  of  your  comely  and 
gracious  presence  the  sunbeams  of  your  countenance  and 
your  discreet  and  virtuous  behaviour,  hath  by  degrees 
wroat  such  a  virtuous  heat  and  such  Ammorouse  Effects 
in  my  disconsolate  heart  that  that  which  I  cannot  at 
present  disclose  in  words  in  your  gracious  presence  I  am 
forct  (altho  far  distant  from  you)  to  discover  in  ink  and 
paper ;  trusting  in  god  that  this  may  be  a  Key  to  open 
the  door  of  your  virtuous  and  tender  heart  against  the 
time  I  do  appear  in  person ;  Dear  Mistress  :  let  me  most 
submissively  crave  this  favour  of  you  among  your  gener- 
rosities  that  you  would  not  in  the  least  Imagine  that  I 
have  any  Bye  Ends  or  reserves  in  writing  these  few  lines 
to  you:  But  that  I  am  Virtuously  truly  and  sincerely, 
upon  the  word  of  a  Christian  ;  and  the  main  scope  and 
intent  of  this  letter  is  only  and  alone  to  discover  unto 
you,  these  Amorous  impressions  of  a  virtuous  Love  which 
hath  taken  root  or  is  Allready  ingrafted  in  my  heart ; 
who  have  lifted  myself  under  the  Banner  of  your  Love  ; 


f  TTNIVERSITY  J 

*C^^S      ' 


1 88      THROUGH    COLONIAL    DOORWAYS. 

provided  I  can  by  any  means  gain  the  honor  to  induce 
you  to  Acknowledge  and  account  me  your  most  obligeing 
Servant :  I  must  needs  say  this  is  not  a  common  practice 
of  mine  to  write  Letters  of  this  nature  but  Love  hath 
made  that  proper  which  is  not  common ;  Mrs.  Mary  if 
I  had  foreseen  when  I  saw  you  what  I  have  since  ex 
perienced  I  would  have  foreshown  a  more  Ample  and 
courteous  behavior  than  I  then  did ;  Through  my  Stu 
pidity  and  dullness  the  reason  then  I  could  not  tell : 
But  the  effects  I  now  know  and  shall  be  careful  and 
industrious  to  improve,  not  to  your  disadvantage,  and  I 
am  persuaded  to  my  exceeding  comfort  and  contentment ; 
as  for  my  person  you  have  in  a  measure  seen  it,  and  as 
for  my  practice  you  do  in  a  measure  Know  it  as  for  my 
parts  the  Effects  of  my  Conversations  will  show  it.  I 
know  it  is  folly  to  speak  in  my  own  Praise,  seeing  I  have 
learnt  this  Leason  Long  ago  wise  is  that  man  that  speaks 
few  words  in  his  own  praise.  .  .  . 

"  As  for  my  parents  I  am  obliged  By  the  Law  of  god  ; 
to  Honour  them,  &  thus  I  say  in  short  (first)  they  are 
of  no  mean  Family ;  (secondly)  they  are  of  no  mean 
Learning,  &  (thirdly)  they  are  <5f  no  mean  account  and 
note  in  the  World :  tho  they  are  not  of  ye  world  But  the 
truth  &  certainty  of  this  I  Leave  to  be  proved;  By 
Severall  of  no  mean  note  in  this  Province  and  the  next." 

Mr.  Reach  evidently  refers  to  the  Prov 
inces  of  Pennsylvania  and  New  Jersey. 
After  several  lines  that  it  is  impossible  to 
decipher,  we  extract  the  following  hope : 

"  That  the  Silver  Streams  of  my  Dearest  Affections 
and  faithfull  Love  will  be  willingly  received  into  the 


A  BUNDLE  OF  OLD  LOVE  LETTERS.   189 

Mill  Pond  of  your  tender  Virgin  Heart;  by  your  hailing 
up  the  flood  gate  of  your  virtuous  Love  and  Affections  ; 
which  will  completely  turn  the  Wheeles  of  your  Gracious 
will  and  Understanding  to  receive  the  golden  graines  or 
Effects  of  my  Steadfast  Love  and  unerring  Affection 
which  will  be  in  Loyall  respective  and  Obliging  Service 
so  Long  as  Life  Shall  Last  and  such  a  thrice  Happy 
Conjunction  ;  may  induce  Many  to  bring  bags  of  Golden 
graines  of  Rejoycing  to  our  Mill  and  River  of  joy  and 
contentment  and  we  ourselves  will  sing  ye  Epithalmy ; 
this  is  the  Earnest  (yet  Languishing)  Desire  of  his  Soul 
who  hath  sent  his  heart  with  his  Letter:"* 

The  foregoing  epistle  is  connected  with 
a  curious  chapter  in  the  religious  life  of 
the  Lower  Counties  of  Pennsylvania.f  The 
writer,  a  son  of  the  celebrated  controver 
sialist  and  Baptist  divine  of  London,  Ben 
jamin  Keach,  made  himself  notorious  in 
the  early  days  of  the  Colony  by  passing 
himself  off  as  a  minister  of  the  Baptist 
Church.  "  A  very  wild  spark,"  one  his 
torian  calls  him,  while  even  in  Baptist 
annals  Elias  Keach  is  spoken  of  as  "  an 
ungodly  young  man,  who,  to  make  him- 

*  Original  owned  by  Miss  Anna  Peale,  a  grand 
daughter  of  Charles  Willson  Peale. 

f  New  Castle,  Kent,  and  Sussex,  which  now  form  the 
State  of  Delaware. 


THROUGH    COLONIAL    DOORWAYS. 

self  appear  to  be  a  clergyman,  wore  black 
clothing  and  bands."  He  carried  his  im 
posture  so  far  as  to  undertake  to  conduct  a 
service,  in  the  midst  of  which  he  broke 
down,  and  when  the  congregation  gathered 
about  him,  thinking  that  he  was  attacked 
by  some  sudden  indisposition,  Mr.  Keach 
confessed,  "  with  tears  and  much  trem 
bling,"  that  he  was  no  minister,  nor  a 
Christian.  Whether  this  shady  episode, 
which  occurred  in  1686,  the  same  year 
that  the  love-letter  was  written  to  Miss 
Helm,  prevented  the  mistress  of  his 
"  Amorous  and  Virtuous  Affections"  from 
favoring  his  suit,  contemporaneous  his 
tory  does  not  reveal.  It  does,  however, 
establish  the  fact  that  Miss  More,  daughter 
of  Chief  Justice  Nicholas  More,  of  Penn 
sylvania,  and  not  Miss  Helm,  became  the 
wife  of  the  polite  letter-writer.  It  would 
be  interesting  to  know  with  what  sort  of  a 
declaratory  effusion  this  second  love  was 
favored.  On  this  point  history  is  again 
silent.  It  states,  however,  what  it  is  only 
just  to  repeat  with  regard  to  the  subsequent 
career  of  Elias  Keach, — namely,  that  he 


A    BUNDLE    OF    OLD    LOVE    LETTERS.       IQI 

repented  of  his  sins  before  he  created 
further  scandal  in  clerical  circles.  Having 
confessed,  and  having  received  absolution 
and  ordination  from  one  Elder  Dungan,  of 
Rhode  Island,  Mr.  Keach  began  his  life- 
work  in  earnest,  which  evidently  bore  good 
fruit,  as  he  now  enjoys  the  reputation  of 
having  established  the  first  Baptist  church 
in  Philadelphia  County,  that  of  Pennepack, 
from  which  sprang  a  large  sisterhood  of 
Baptist  churches  in  Pennsylvania  and  New 
Jersey. 

Among  later  Colonial  love-letters  are 
those  of  Abigail  Smith,  afterwards  Mrs. 
John  Adams,  which  are  marked  by  the 
ready  wit  and  playful  fancy  that  character 
ized  all  her  writings.  These  qualities  she 
seems  to  have  inherited  from  no  stranger, 
as  her  father,  the  Rev.  William  Smith  of 
Weymouth,  was  one  of  the  most  facetious 
of  divines.  It  is  said  that  when  his  eldest 
daughter,  Mary,  married  Richard  Cranch, 
he  preached  from  Luke  x.  42 :  "  And 
Mary  hath  chosen  that  good  part,  which 
shall  not  be  taken  away  from  her."  Abi 
gail  also  had  her  turn.  Some  of  the  aris- 


192      THROUGH    COLONIAL    DOORWAYS. 

tocratic  parishioners  of  Weymouth  ob 
jected  to  John  Adams  because  he  was  the 
son  of  a  small  farmer  and  himself  a  lawyer, 
these  two  facts  rendering  him,  they  thought, 
ineligible  to  marry  the  minister's  daughter, 
in  whose  veins  flowed  the  bluest  of  New 
England  blue  blood.  Mr.  Smith  accord 
ingly  favored  his  congregation  with  a  dis 
course  on  the  text,  "  For  John  came  neither 
eating  bread  nor  drinking  wine ;  and  ye 
say,  He  hath  a  devil,"  the  latter  clause 
having  reference  to  the  groom's  profession, 
the  law,  which  was  not  then  held  in  much 
repute  in  New  England. 

In  a  letter  written  by  Miss  Smith,  from 
her  village  home,  to  John  Adams,  who  was 
undergoing  the  process  of  inoculation  for 
small-pox  in  Boston,  she  says, — 

"  By  the  time  you  receive  this  I  hope  from  experience 
that  you  will  be  able  to  say  that  the  distemper  is  but  a 
trifle.  Think  you  I  would  not  endure  a  trifle  for  the 
pleasure  of  seeing  you  ?  Yes,  were  it  ten  times  that 
trifle,  I  would.  But  my  own  inclinations  must  not  be 
followed.  I  hope  you  smoke  your  letters  well  before 
you  deliver  them.  Mamma  is  so  fearful  lest  I  catch  the 
distemper,  that  she  hardly  ever  thinks  the  letters  are 
sufficiently  purified.  Did  you  never  rob  a  bird's  nest  ? 


A  BUNDLE  OF  OLD  LOVE  LETTERS.   IQ3 

Do  you  remember  how  the  poor  birds  would  fly  round 
and  round,  fearful  to  come  nigh,  yet  not  know  how  to 
leave  the  place  ?  Just  so  they  say  I  hover  round  Tom 
whilst  he  is  smoking  my  letters." 

It  is  to  be  regretted  that  John  Adams's 
answers  to  these  letters  are  not  preserved : 
they  were  probably  burned  up  by  the 
anxious  mamma. 

All  Abigail's  letters  are  love-letters  in 
their  tone  of  earnest  devotion,  whether 
written  before  or  after  marriage.  With 
the  details  of  the  stir  and  excitement  of 
military  doings  in  and  around  Boston,  the 
arrival  of  General  Washington,  the  scanti 
ness  of  provisions,  and  the  cry  for  pins, 
which  seem  to  have  been  as  scarce  as  dia 
monds,  there  abound  such  passages  as 
this: 

"  I  wish  I  could  come  and  see  you.  I  never  suffer 
myself  to  think  you  are  about  returning  soon.  Can  it, 
will  it  be?  May  I  ask — may  I  wish  for  it?  When 

once  I  expect  you But  hush !     Do  you  know  it  is 

eleven  o'clock  at  night  ?  .  .  .  Pray  don't  let  Bass  forget 
my  pins.  We  shall  soon  have  no  coffee,  nor  sugar,  nor 
pepper  here ;  but  whortleberries  and  milk  we  are  not 
obliged  to  commerce  for.  I  saw  a  letter  of  yours  to 
Colonel  Palmer  by  General  Washington.  I  hope  I  have 
I  n  17 


194     THROUGH    COLONIAL    DOORWAYS. 

one  too.  Good-night.  With  thoughts  of  thee  I  close 
my  eyes.  Angels  guard  and  protect  thee ;  and  may  a 
safe  return  ere  long  bless  thy  Portia." 

It  was  always  Diana  or  Portia,  after  the 
romantic  fashion  of  those  days  ;  and  who 
would  not  rather  have  been  Portia  than 
plain  Abigail  to  her  lover  ? 

A  curious  literary  and  historical  fact, 
not  generally  known,  is  that  General  Bene 
dict  Arnold,  who  was  notorious  for  his  ex 
travagance  in  public  and  private  life,  was 
extremely  parsimonious  in  the  matter  of 
love-letters.  By  the  infallible  proof  of  an 
old  letter,  recently  discovered,  it  appears 
that  he  made  the  same  amatory  com 
position  do  double  duty,  having  used  it 
in  addressing  at  least  two  ladies  of  his 
choice.  The  letter  was  first  employed  in  a 
proposal  to  Miss  A.,  whom  he  did  not 
marry,  and  with  a  few  changes  was  used 
in  offering  himself  to  the  beautiful  Miss 
Peggy  Shippen,  of  Philadelphia,  whom  he 
married  in  1779.  The  letter,  as  addressed 
to  Miss  Shippen,  is  to  be  found  in  Arnold's 
"  Life  of  Benedict  Arnold,"  and  is  undoubt 
edly  a  fine  sample  of  a  love-letter  of  a 


A    BUNDLE    OF    OLD    LOVE    LETTERS.       1 95 

rather  florid  and  bombastic  style.  If  Miss 
Shippen  had  realized  that  her  suitor  had 
written  to  an  earlier  love  that  her  "  charms 
had  lighted  up  a  flame  in  his  bosom  which 
could  never  be  extinguished,  that  her 
heavenly  image  was  too  dear  to  be  ever 
effaced,  and  that  Heaven's  blessing  should 
be  implored  for  the  idol  and  only  wish  of 
his  soul,"  she  might  with  some  reason  have 
hesitated  to  bestow  her  hand  upon  so  trite 
a  lover,  who  could  find  no  fresh  adjectives 
to  match  her  charms. 

Of  interesting  foreign  love-letters  we 
might  speak  at  length  :  of  a  manly  and 
tender  missive  from  the  great  Gustavus 
Adolphus  to  an  early  love ;  of  the  Klop- 
stock  letters,  than  which  in  the  whole 
literature  of  love  nothing  more  beautiful 
can  be  found  ;  of  those  of  Prosper  Merimee 
to  his  coquette  Inconnue,  with  their  irresisti 
ble  grace  and  brilliancy  enhanced  by  the 
air  of  mystery  that  surrounds  them ;  or 
of  the  exquisite  metrical  love-letters  that 
Elizabeth  Barrett  addressed  to  her  "  Most 
gracious  singer  of  high  poems."  We  have 
chosen  rather  to  group  together  a  few 


196     THROUGH    COLONIAL    DOORWAYS. 

Colonial  love-letters,  not  only  because  most 
of  them  are  unknown  to  the  reading  world, 
but  also  with  a  thought  of  drawing  together 
in  sympathy  lovers  of  to-day  with  those 
of  a m  past  generation,  not  wigged,  capped, 
and  spectacled,  as  we  are  wont  to  picture 
our  grandfathers  and  grandmothers,  but 
with  flowing  locks  and  flashing  eyes,  armed 
cap-a-pie  to  enter  in  and  conquer,  or  be 
conquered,  in  that  fair  realm  where  victor 
and  vanquished  rejoice  to  quit  the  lists 
hand  clasped  in  hand. 


THE  PHILADELPHIA 
DANCING  ASSEMBLIES 

fS  has  been  said,  we  are  wont  to 
think  of  our  esteemed  progenitors 

of  the  Colonial  and  Revolutionary 
periods  as  performing  valuable  service  in 
their  day  and  generation,  "  being  good," 
as  some  wit  expresses  it,  "  but  not  having 
a  very  good  time."  If  our  thoughts  re 
vert  to  the  ladies  of  the  last  century,  we 
picture  them  spending  their  days  in  spin 
ning,  knitting,  or  sewing,  surrounded  by 
their  maid-servants,  whom  they  are  in 
structing  in  these  most  useful  arts,  as  the 
Mother  of  the  Republic  is  described  by  so 
many  who  visited  her  at  Mount  Vernon, 
rather  than  in  bedecking  themselves  for 
conquest  in  the  gay  world.  The  men  of 
17*  i97 


THROUGH    COLONIAL    DOORWAYS. 

the  period  seem  to  have  spent  so  much  of 
their  time  at  assemblies,  not  dancing  as 
semblies,  but  those  in  which  the  laws  of 
the  Colonies  were  discussed,  and  land- 
claims,  quit-rents,  and  other  dry  affairs 
settled,  that  we  are  surprised  when  a  stray 
leaf  from  the  note-book  of  some  public 
man  floats  down  to  us  containing  such 
entries  as  the  following : 

Diana  for  attendance 15^. 

For  candles £l.*2s. 

"  snuffers 4-y. 

"  three  dozen  chairs £j 

"  200  limes 14^. 

"  1 8  pounds  milk  bisket gs. 

"  5  gallons  rum  and  cask  ....  £2-3s' 
"  Musick £i.*os. 

Learning  that  these  items  were  among 
the  expenses  of  an  early  Philadelphia 
Dancing  Assembly,  and  that  the  wives 
and  daughters  of  such  ancient  worthies  as 
His  Honor  the  Governor  of  Pennsylvania, 
Chief  Justice  Shippen,  Thomas  Hopkinson, 
and  the  Bond  brothers  wore  rich  imported 
silks,  feathers,  and  flowers,  and  attended 
routs  and  balls,  life  in  the  old  Provincial 
city  is  suddenly  lit  up  with  brighter  hues, 


PHILADELPHIA  DANCING  ASSEMBLIES.       199 

and  gay  scenes  take  their  place  upon  the 
canvas  of  the  past. 

History  has  treated  with  such  dignified 
silence  this  more  frivolous  side  of  Phila 
delphia  life  that  it  is  only  from  old  manu 
script  letters  and  note-books,  from  such 
sprightly  diaries  as  those  of  William  Black, 
of  Virginia,  Sarah  Eve,  and  Sally  Wister, 
and  from  Watson  and  other  annalists,  that 
we  learn  that  there  was  much  gayety,  as 
well  as  rare  good  living,  in  this  city  in  the 
last  century.  As  early  as  1738  we  read 
of  a  dancing  class,  instructed  by  Theobald 
Hackett,  who  engaged  to  teach 

"  all  sorts  of  fashionable  English  and  French  dances, 
after  the  newest  and  politest  manner  practised  in  Lon 
don,  Dublin,  and  Paris,  and  to  give  to  young  ladies, 
gentlemen,  and  children  the  most  graceful  carriage  in 
dancing  and  genteel  behavior  in  company  that  can  pos 
sibly  be  given  by  any  dancing-master  whatever." 

Certainly  the  dancing-master's  card  is 
worded  in  the  "  politest  manner,"  and  his 
pupils  in  this  city  must  have  proved  singu 
larly  apt  in  the  Terpsichorean  art,  as  the 
Philadelphia  women  were  noted,  at  an 
early  date,  for  their  grace  and  social  charm. 


2OO     THROUGH    COLONIAL    DOORWAYS. 

Later,  one  Kennet  taught  dancing  and 
fencing,  as  did  also  John  Ormsby,  from 
London,  "  in  the  newest  taste  now  prac 
tised  in  Europe,  at  Mr.  Foster's  house,  in 
Market  Street,  opposite  the  Horse  and 
Dray." 

These  announcements  sound  strangely 
un-Quakerlike,  and  in  1749  such  alarming 
premonitory  symptoms  of  gayety  culmi 
nated  in  a  regular  series  of  subscription 
balls,  after  the  London  fashion.  The  good 
Quakers  naturally  looked  askance  at  such 
festivities  ;  consequently  we  find  the  names 
of  no  Pembertons,  Logans,  Fishers,  Lloyds, 
Whartons,  Coxes,  Rawles,  Norrises,  Pen- 
ingtons,  Emlens,  Morrises,  or  Biddies  on 
the  original  list  of  membership ;  but  here 
are  M'Calls,  Francises,  Burds,  Shippens, 
Barclays,  Wilcockses,  Willings,  Mcllvaines, 
Hamiltons,  Aliens,  Whites,  and  Conyng- 
hams. 

The  clergy  was  represented  in  these 
early  Assemblies  by  the  Rev.  Richard 
Peters,  of  London,  who  held  high  positions 
in  the  State  as  well  as  in  the  Church,  and 
the  Provincial  Government  by  James  Ham- 


PHILADELPHIA  DANCING  ASSEMBLIES.      2OI 

ilton,  the  first  American-born  governor  of 
Pennsylvania.  A  letter  from  Richard 
Peters  to  Thomas  Penn  shows  what  a 
warm  interest  the  reverend  gentleman  took 
in  the  recently-formed  Assembly.  The 
letter  is  dated  New  Castle,  May  3,  1749, 
and  reads  as  follows : 

"  By  the  Governor's  encouragement  there  has  been  a 
very  handsome  Assembly  once  a  fortnight  at  Andrew 
Hamilton's  house  and  stores,  which  are  tenanted  by  Mr. 
Inglis  [and]  make  a  set  of  rooms  for  such  a  purpose, 
&  Consists  of  eighty  ladies  and  as  many  gentlemen, 
one-half  appearing  every  Assembly  Night.  Mr.  Inglis 
had  the  conduct  of  the  whole,  and  managed  exceeding 
well.  There  happened  a  little  mistake  at  the  begin 
ning,  which  at  some  other  times  might  [have]  produced 
disturbances.  The  Governor  would  have  opened  the 
Assembly  with  Mrs.  Taylor,  but  she  refused  him,  I 
suppose  because  he  had  not  been  to  visit  her.  After 
Mrs.  Taylor's  refusal,  two  or  three  other  ladies,  out  of 
Modesty  and  from  no  manner  of  ill  design,  excused 
themselves,  so  that  the  Governor  was  put  a  little  to  his 
shifts  when  Mrs.  Willing,  now  Mrs.  Mayoreas,*  in  a 
most  Genteel  Manner  put  herself  into  his  way,  and  on 
the  Governor  seeing  this  instance,  he" 

here  there  occurs  something  illegible, 
but  it  appears  from  what  follows  that  the 

*  Evidently  intended  for  Mrs.  Mayoress,  as  Charles 
Willing  was  elected  Mayor  of  Philadelphia  in  1748. 


2O2      THROUGH    COLONIAL    DOORWAYS. 

Governor  danced  the  first  minuet  with  this 
amiable  lady,  who  showed  her  fine  breed 
ing  by  stepping  in  to  prevent  his  being 
placed  in  an  awkward  position. 

Mr.  Peters  adds,  in  judicial  form,  that 
"  Mrs.  Taylor  was  neither  blamed  nor  ex 
cused  nor  commended,  and  so  it  went  off, 
and  every  person  during  the  continuance 
of  the  Assembly,  which  ended  last  week, 
was  extremely  cheerful  and  good  natured." 

This  Mrs.  Abraham  Taylor  was  the 
same  Philadelphia  Taylor  who  wrote  a 
little  earlier  of  the  exceeding  dulness  of 
Provincial  life,  and  the  lack  of  all  con 
genial  amusement,  sighing  the  while  for 
an  "  English  Arcadia,"  which  she  thus 
quaintly  described :  "  The  hight  of  my 
ambition  is  to  have  us  all  live  together  in 
some  pretty  country  place  in  a  clean  and 
genteel  manner." 

It  is  pleasing  to  know  that  social  life 
was  beginning  to  come  up  to  this  lady's 
standard,  even  if  her  own  manners  did  not 
rise  with  it.  Her  rude  treatment  of  Gov 
ernor  Hamilton  was  due  to  the  fact  of  her 
husband  having  some  difficulty  with  the 


PHILADELPHIA  DANCING  ASSEMBLIES.      2O3 

Provincial  authorities,  which  she  under 
took  to  revenge  upon  the  person  who 
seems  to  have  been  the  least  to  blame  in 
the  matter. 

The  managers  of  the  first  Assembly  were 
John  Swift,  a  successful  merchant,  and 
Collector  of  the  Port  of  Philadelphia; 
John  Wallace,  son  of  a  Scotch  clergyman  ; 
John  Inglis,  whose  name  is  not  now  repre 
sented  in  Philadelphia,  but  from  whom 
are  descended  Fishers,  Cadwaladers,  Coxes, 
and  Kanes  ;  and  Lynford  Lardner,  an  Eng 
lishman,  who  came  here  in  1740  to  hold 
a  number  of  honorable  positions  in  the 
Province,  and,  being  addicted  to  learning 
as  well  as  to  gayety,  was  a  director  of  the 
Library  Company  and  an  early  member  of 
the  American  Philosophical  Society.* 

*  Mr.  Richard  Penn  Lardner,  a  descendant  of  this 
Lynford  Lardner,  in  1878,  owned  the  original  list  of  the 
subscribers  to  the  Assembly  of  1749,  and  the  manner  in 
which  this  list  and  the  rules  for  its  government  came 
into  the  possession  of  the  Historical  Society  of  Penn 
sylvania  is  in  itself  an  interesting  bit  of  local  history 
The  rules  were  the  property  of  Mr.  Charles  Riche 
Hildeburn,  a  direct  descendant  of  John  Swift.  He 
offered  to  give  them  to  the  society  if  the  old  list  should 


2O4      THROUGH    COLONIAL    DOORWAYS. 

Among  the  subscribers  to  the  first 
Dancing  Assembly  was  Andrew  Elliot, 
son  of  Sir  Gilbert  Elliot,  then  a  young 
man  recently  arrived  in  the  Province. 
Although  he  married  into  two  Philadel 
phia  families,  Mr.  Elliot's  associations  were 
much  with  New  York,  where  he  was  some 
time  Collector  of  Customs  and  Lieutenant- 
Governor.  Mrs.  Jauncey,  Governor  El 
liot's  daughter,  writes  from  that  city,  in 
1783,  of  a  ball  at  Head-quarters  in  honor 
of  the  Queen's  birthday,  which  her  father 
urged  his  wife  to  attend,  yet  we  find  him 
writing  a  few  months  later  of  Mrs.  Elliot 
being  in  Philadelphia,  and  warmly  received 
by  the  authorities  there,  "  in  high  spirits 
and  high  frolic,  with  all  her  best  clothes ; 
dancing  with  the  French  Minister,  Finan 
cier-General,  Governor  of  the  State,  &c., 

also  be  forthcoming.  Mr.  Lardner  signified  his  willing 
ness  to  donate  the  list,  and  the  formal  presentation  was 
made  by  the  late  President  of  the  Historical  Society, 
the  Hon.  John  William  Wallace.  Thus,  after  a  separa 
tion  of  one  hundred  and  thirty  years,  the  old  documents 
came  together  through  the  agency  of  descendants  of 
three  of  the  managers  of  the  very  Assembly  to  which 
they  pertained. 


PHILADELPHIA  DANCING  ASSEMBLIES.      2O5 

&c.,  all  striving  who  shall  show  her  most 
attention."  This  latter  was  after  the  pre 
liminaries  of  peace  had  been  signed  be 
tween  Great  Britain  and  the  United  States, 
when  Governor  Elliot's  old  friends,  "  Gov 
ernor  Dickinson,  Bob.  Morris,"  and  other 
officials  in  the  government,  had  begun  to 
assume  the  more  imposing  proportions  of 
winning  figures.  Both  Mrs.  Jauncey  and 
Elizabeth  Elliot  married  Englishmen.  The 
latter,  as  Lady  Cathcart,  seems  to  have 
taken  particular  delight  in  dazzling  the  eyes 
of  her  American  relatives  with  pictures  of 
her  own  magnificent  appearance  in  sable 
and  diamonds  assisting  at  court  functions, 
where  she  is  pleased  to  find  herself  on  oc 
casions  the  best  dressed  person  in  the  com 
pany.* 

Mrs.  Jekyll,  whose  name  is  to  be  found 
on  the  early  Assembly  lists,  and  who  is 
spoken  of  as  "  a  lady  of  pre-eminent  fashion 
and  beauty,"  was  a  grand-  daughter  of  the 
first  Edward  Shippen.  Her  husband,  John 


*  Chronicles  of   the   Plumsted   Family,  by   Eugene 
Devereux. 

18 


206     THROUGH    COLONIAL    DOORWAYS. 

Jekyll,  was  Collector  of  the  Port  of  Bos 
ton.  In  connection  with  this  lady's  gayety 
and  social  distinction,  Watson  gives  some 
curious  information  with  regard  to  the 
invitations  in  early  times,  which,  he  says, 
were  printed  upon  common  playing-cards, 
there  being  no  blank  cards  in  the  country, 
none  but  playing-cards  being  imported  for 
sale.  "  I  have  seen  at  least  a  variety  of 
a  dozen  in  number  addressed  to  this  same 
lady  [Mrs.  Jekyll].  One  of  them,  from  a 
leading  gentleman  of  that  day,  contained 
on  the  back  the  glaring  effigy  of  a  queen 
of  clubs!"* 

The  first  Assembly  Balls  were  held  in  a 
large  room  at  Hamilton's  wharf,  on  Water 
Street,  between  Walnut  and  Dock.  There 
seems  to  have  been  no  hall  capable  of  ac 
commodating  so  many  persons,  and  as 
Water  Street  skirted  the  court  end  of  the 
town,  it  was  a  rather  convenient  locality 
in  which  to  hold  a  ball.  A  lady  of  the 
olden  time  has  left  a  record  of  going  to 

*  Some  of  these  old  playing-cards,  with  invitations  to 
the  Assembly  printed  on  the  backs,  are  still  in  the  posses 
sion  of  a  descendant  of  the  first  Edward  Shippen. 


PHILADELPHIA   DANCING  ASSEMBLIES.      2OJ 

one  of  these  balls  at  Hamilton's  Stores  in 
full  dress  and  on  horseback.  What  would 
the  belles  of  that  early  time  think  if  their 
Rosinantes  could  land  them  at  the  Acad 
emy  of  Music  for  one  of  the  great  routs 
of  our  days  ?  The  scene  of  enchantment 
now  presented  by  the  corridors,  foyer,  and 
supper-room  would  certainly  bewilder  the 
brains  and  dazzle  the  eyes  of  those  beauti 
ful  great-grandmothers,  for  the  decorations 
were  not  then  elaborate,  and  the  enter 
tainment  was  simple,  consisting,  says  one 
chronicler,  "  chiefly  of  something  to  drink." 

In  1772  the  Assembly  Balls  seem  to  have 
been  held  at  the  Freemasons'  Lodge,  while 
it  is  evident  from  notices  in  the  Pennsyl 
vania  Journal  of  1784-85,  that  they  were 
later  held  at  the  City  Tavern.  In  1802  the 
managers  gave  notice  to  subscribers,  in 
Paulson's  Advertiser,  that  the  first  ball  of 
the  season  would  be  held  at  Francis's 
Hotel,  on  Market  Street. 

According  to  the  early  Assembly  rules, 
tickets  for  strangers  were  to  be  had  on 
application  to  the  managers,  and  were  to 
be  paid  for  at  the  rate  of  seven  shillings 


2O8      THROUGH    COLONIAL    DOORWAYS. 

and  sixpence, —  this  for  gentlemen  ;  for 
ladies  (such  was  the  gallantry  of  the  time) 
nothing  was  to  be  paid.  This  old  regula 
tion  remained  in  force  until  quite  recently, 
when,  in  consequence  of  the  increasing 
number  of  guests  from  other  cities  and  in 
simple  justice  to  the  subscribers,  it  was  de 
cided  that  guests  of  both  sexes  should  be 
paid  for  at  the  same  rates  as  residents.  The 
old  subscription  ticket  was  forty  shillings, 
which  moderate  sum  was  levied  upon  the 
gentleman,  and  of  course  included  the  lady 
who  accompanied  him.  It  covered  the  ex 
penses  of  a  series  of  entertainments  given 
upon  every  Thursday  evening  from  Janu 
ary  until  May.  The  rule  was  that  the  ball 
"  should  commence  at  precisely  six  in  the 
evening,  and  not,  by  any  means,  to  exceed 
twelve  the  same  night."  Worthy  and  most 
moderate  ancestors !  Your  ball  ended  at 
the  hour  that  the  Assembly  of  our  time 
begins,  and  the  fair  Belindas  and  Myrtillas 
who  had  graced  the  scene  were  sent  off  to 
their  beds  in  time  to  get,  if  not  beauty- 
sleep,  certainly  some  hours  of  good  sleep 
before  dawn.  This  was  a  fortunate  circum- 


PHILADELPHIA  DANCING  ASSEMBLIES.      2OQ 

stance,  for  those  were  days  when  mothers 
of  families  considered  it  one  of  the  car 
dinal  sins  to  lie  abed  in  the  morning,  and 
if  Belinda  did  not  get  her  quantum  of  sleep 
at  night  there  was  little  chance  of  making 
it  up  at  high  noon. 

Although  it  was  one  of  the  regulations 
of  the  Assembly  that  none  were  to  be 
admitted  without  tickets,  which  were  re 
ceived  at  the  door  by  one  of  the  directors, 
there  appears  to  have  been  some  laxity  in 
enforcing  this  regulation,  as,  in  1771,  the 
following  notice  was  inserted  in  the  Penn 
sylvania  Journal : 

"  The  Assembly  will  be  opened  this  evening,  and  as 
the  receiving  money  at  the  door  has  been  found  ex 
tremely  inconvenient,  the  managers  think  it  necessary 
to  give  the  public  notice  that  no  person  will  be  admitted 
without  a  ticket  from  the  directors,  which  (through  the 
application  of  a  subscriber)  may  be  had  of  either  of  the 
managers." 

As  card-playing  formed  an  important 
part  in  the  entertainment  of  the  time, 
rooms  were  provided  for  those  who  pre 
ferred  cards  to  the  dance,  furnished  with 
fire,  candles,  tables,  cards,  etc. 

The  dances  were  regulated  accon 

o  18* 


210      THROUGH    COLONIAL    DOORWAYS. 

very  strict  rules,  "  first  come,  first  served." 
The  ladies  who  arrived  first  had  places  in 
the  first  set ;  the  others  were  to  be  arranged 
in  the  order  in  which  they  arrived.  The 
ladies  were  to  draw  for  their  places,  which 
made  a  little  pleasant  excitement  and  raised 
a  flutter  of  expectation  in  breasts  mascu 
line  as  well  as  feminine.  The  directors 
always  had  the  right  to  reserve  one  place 
out  of  the  set  "  to  present  to  a  stranger,  if 
any,  or  any  other  lady,  who  was  thereby 
entitled  to  lead  up  that  set  for  the  night." 

To  break  in  upon  the  regular  order  of 
the  dances  seems  to  have  been  a  serious 
offence,  as,  in  a  letter  of  1782,  we  read  of 
a  Philadelphia  belle,  Miss  Polly  Riche, 
starting  up  a  revolt  against  the  established 
authorities  by  "  standing  up  in  a  set  not 
her  own."  By  drawing  the  other  ladies 
and  gentlemen,  who  formed  the  cotillon, 
into  the  rebellion,  she  precipitated  a  rup 
ture  between  the  gentlemen,  Mr.  Moore 
aad  Colonel  Armand,  and  the  managers  of 
the  Assembly. 

Two  Jewish  names  appear  on  this  early 
list  of  1749,  Levy  and  Franks.  Mr.  Black, 


PHILADELPHIA  DANCING  ASSEMBLIES.      211 

who  was  in  Philadelphia  in  1744,  thus 
describes  a  Miss  Levy,  probably  a  sister 
of  Samson  Levy,  whose  name  is  enrolled 
among  the  subscribers  to  the  Assembly  : 

"  In  the  evening,  in  company  with  Mr.  Lewis  and  Mr. 
Littlepage,  I  went  to  Mr.  Levy's,  a  Jew,  and  very  Con 
siderable  Merch't ;  he  was  a  Widdower.  And  his  Sister, 
Miss  Hettie  Levy,  kept  his  House.  We  staid  Tea,  and 
was  very  agreeably  Entertain' d  by  the  Young  Lady. 
She  was  of  middle  Stature,  and  very  well  made  her 
Complection  Black  but  very  Comely,  she  had  two  Charm 
ing  eyes  full  of  Fire  and  Rolling ;  Eye  Brows  Black 
and  well  turn'd,  with  a  Beautiful  head  of  Hair,  Coal 
Black  which  she  wore  a  Wigg,  waving  in  wanting  curl 
ing  Ringletts  in  her  Neck  ;  She  was  a  lady  of  a  great  Deal 
of  Wit,  Join'd  to  a  Good  Understanding,  full  of  Spirits, 
and  of  a  Humor  exceeding  Jocose  and  Agreeable." 

Another  lady  who  inspired  even  more 
ardent  admiration  in  the  susceptible  breast 
of  Mr.  Black  was  Miss  Mollie  Stamper, 
who  married  William  Bingham,  and  figures 
on  the  early  lists  of  the  Assembly  as  Mrs. 
Bingham.*  Of  this  young  lady's  charms 
Mr.  Black  says, — 

*  This  Mrs.  Bingham  was  the  mother  of  William 
Bingham,  who  married  a  daughter  of  Thomas  Willing, 
whose  wife,  Anne  McCall,  may  well  be  spoken  of  as 
"  the  beautiful  mother  of  a  beautiful  race." 


212      THROUGH    COLONIAL    DOORWAYS. 

"  I  cannot  say  that  she  was  a  Regular  Beauty,  but  she 
was  Such  that  few  could  find  any  Fault  with  what  Dame 
Nature  had  done  for  her.  .  .  .  When  I  view  d  her  I 
thought  all  the  Statues  I  ever  beheld,  was  so  much  in 
ferior  to  her  in  Beauty  that  she  was  more  capable  of 
Converting  a  man  into  a  Statue,  than  of  being  Imitated 
by  the  Greatest  Master  of  that  Art,  &  I  surely  had  as 
much  delight  in  Surveying  her  as  the  Organs  of  Sight 
are  capable  of  conveying  to  the  Soul." 

Few  names  were  better  known  in  the  old- 
time  social  life  than  that  of  Franks.  David 
Franks  was  a  brother  of  Phila  Franks, 
afterwards  Mrs.  Oliver  De  Lancey,  and 
father  of  Rebecca  Franks,  who  was  a 
reigning  belle  during  the  British  occupa 
tion  of  Philadelphia,  when  General  Howe 
was  in  the  habit  of  tying  his  horse  before 
David  Franks's  house  and  going  in  to  have 
a  chat  with  the  ladies,  and  probably  to 
enjoy  a  laugh  at  some  of  Miss  Rebecca's 
spirited  sallies.  Although  the  beautiful 
Jewess  shared  the  honors  of  belledom  with 
fair  Willings  and  Shippens,  no  person 
seems  to  have  disputed  her  title  to  be  con 
sidered  the  wit  of  the  day  among  woman 
kind.  Abigail  Franks,  who  became  Mrs. 
Andrew  Hamilton,  was  another  daughter 


PHILADELPHIA  DANCING  ASSEMBLIES.      213 

of  David  Franks.  It  was  to  this  sister  in 
Philadelphia  that  Miss  Rebecca  wrote  a 
long  gossipy  letter  from  New  York  in  1781, 
in  which  she  contrasted  the  manners  of  the 
belles  of  that  city  and  her  own  very  much 
to  the  advantage  of  those  of  the  latter 
place,  always  excepting  the  Van  Homes, 
with  whom  she  is  staying,  and  whom  she 
describes  as  most  attractive,  Miss  Kitty 
Van  Home  much  resembling  the  greatly 
admired  Mrs.  Galloway. 

"  By  the  way,"  she  writes,  "  few  New  York  ladies 
know  how  to  entertain  company  in  their  own  houses, 
unless  they  introduce  the  card-table.  Except  this  family, 
who  are  remarkable  for  their  good  sense  and  ease,  I 
don't  know  a  woman  or  girl  that  can  chat  above  half 
an  hour,  and  that  on  the  form  of  a  cap,  the  color  of  a 
ribbon,  or  the  set  of  a  hoop,  stay,  or  jupon.  I  will  do 
our  ladies,  that  is  in  Philadelphia,  the  justice  to  say  they 
have  more  cleverness  in  the  turn  of  an  eye  than  the  New 
York  girls  have  in  their  whole  composition.  With  what 
ease  have  I  seen  a  Chew,  a  Penn,  Oswald,  Allen,  and 
a  thousand  others  entertain  a  large  circle  of  both  sexes, 
and  the  conversation,  without  the  aid  of  cards,  not  flag 
or  seem  in  the  least  strained  or  stupid."  * 


*  From  manuscript  letter  in  possession  of  the  Histori 
cal  Society  of  Pennsylvania. 


214      THROUGH    COLONIAL    DOORWAYS. 

In  Mr.  Joseph  Shippen's  "  Lines  Written 
in  an  Assembly  Room"  we  find  a  graceful 
picture  of  the  beauties  of  the  ante-Revolu 
tionary  period.  "  Fair,  charming  Swift," 
the  eldest  daughter  of  John  Swift,  who  after 
wards  became  Mrs.  Livingston  ;  "  lovely 
White,"  a  sister  of  Bishop  White,  who, 
as  Mrs.  Robert  Morris,  was  the  chosen 
friend  of  Mrs.  Washington  while  in  Phila 
delphia  ;  "  sweet,  smiling,  fair  M'Call ;" 
Katharine  Inglis ;  Polly  Franks,  an  elder 
daughter  of  David  Franks ;  Sally  Coxe, 
who  married  Andrew  Allen,  the  loyalist ; 
and  Chews  so  fair  that  Mr.  Shippen  cannot 
decide  which  is  the  fairer.  Two  of  these 
bewildering  sisters,  Mary  and  Elizabeth 
Chew,  married  respectively  Alexander 
Wilcocks  and  Edward  Tilghman.  An 
other  poet,  of  a  period  a  little  later  than 
this,  happening  to  pick  up  a  knot  of 
ribbon  dropped  by  Miss  Chew  on  the 
ball-room  floor,  thus  descants  upon  her 
charms : 


"  If  I  mistake  not — 'tis  the  accomplish'd  Chew, 
To  whom  this  ornamental  bow  is  due ; 


PHILADELPHIA  DANCING  ASSEMBLIES.      215 

Its  taste  like  hers,  so  neat,  so  void  of  art — 

Just  as  her  mind  and  gentle  as  her  heart. 

I  haste  to  send  it — to  resume  its  place, 

For  beaux  should  sorrow  o'er  a  bow's  disgrace." 

It  does  not  appear  to  have  taken  great  in 
spirations  to  set  the  muse  to  rhyming  in 
those  days.  Mr.  John  Swanwick  seems 
always  to  have  found  his  prompt  to  obey 
his  call,  and  whether  he  is  disappointed  in 
a  walk  with  Miss  Markoe,  or  whether  he 
takes  such  a  walk ;  whether  it  is  Miss 
Meredith's  canary-bird  that  dies  or  the 
great  astronomer  David  Rittenhouse,  all 
alike  give  wings  to  his  Pegasus.  He  lends 
Miss  Abby  Willing  his  Biographical  Dic 
tionary,  and  with  it  encloses  a  dozen  verses 
or  more  on  those  inscribed  in  this  "  splen 
did  roll  of  fame."  Another  occasion  of 
poetic  inspiration  is  when  tears  are  ob 
served  to  stream  down  a  young  lady's 
cheek  on  listening  to  a  sermon  from  the 
Rev.  William  White.  Must  it  not  have 
been  delightful  to  possess  such  a  fancy  ? 

As  early  as  1765  some  of  the  good  old 
Quaker  names  are  to  be  found  on  the 
Assembly  lists,  as  Mifflin,  Fishbourne, 


2l6     THROUGH    COLONIAL    DOORWAYS. 

Dickinson,  Galloway,  Nixon,  Powell,  and 
Cadwalader,  the  latter  family  being,  like 
the  Ingersolls,  Montgomerys,  Sergeants, 
Tilghmans,  Wisters,  and  Markoes,  among 
later  arrivals  in  Philadelphia  from  other 
States  or  from  abroad.  Margaret  Cadwal 
ader  married  Samuel  Meredith,  first  Treas 
urer  of  the  United  States,  while  her  elder 
sister  Polly  became  the  wife  of  Philemon 
Dickinson,  from  Crosia-dore,  Maryland,  a 
brother  of  John  Dickinson,  himself  dis 
tinguished  as  a  soldier  and  statesman, 
while  General  John  Cadwalader  carried 
off  one  of  the  Meschianza  belles,  Miss 
Williamina  Bond.*  Among  names  upon 
other  Assembly  lists,  early  and  late,  are 
those  of  Clymer,  Hazlehurst,  Evans,  Burd, 
Lewis,  McMurtrie,  McPherson,  Sims,  Ross, 
Watmough,  Biddle,  Wharton,  Meade,  etc., 
while  in  that  of  1765  there  is  a  curious 
record  of  "  Miss  Allen,  alias  Governess," 
which  evidently  refers  to  Ann  Allen,  who 
married  Governor  John  Penn,  a  grandson 

*  The  name  Williamina  was  inherited  from  a  beautiful 
grandmother,  Williamina  Wemyss  Moore. 


PHILADELPHIA  DANCING  ASSEMBLIES. 

of  the  Proprietary.     Of  this  fair  lady  the 
ever-ready  Swanwick  sings, — 

"  When  youthful  Allen  of  majestic  mien 
Seems  as  she  moves  of  every  beauty  queen — - 
And  by  refinements  of  a  polish'd  mind, 
To  decorate  a  throne  design'd." 

The  regular  Assembly  balls  seem  to 
have  been  discontinued  during  the  War 
of  the  Revolution,  although  most  of  this 
time  there  was  no  lack  of  gayety  in  Phila 
delphia,  especially  in  Tory  circles,  as  is 
shown  by  contemporaneous  letters.  Miss 
Franks  writes  to  Mrs.  William  Paca  *  in 
1778,  while  the  British  were  in  possession 
of  the  city, — 

"You  can  have  no  idea  of  the  life  of  continued 
amusement  I  live  in.  I  can  scarce  have  a  moment  to 
myself.  I  have  stole  this  while  everybody  is  retired  to 
dress  for  dinner.  I  am  but  just  come  from  under  Mr. 
J.  Black's  hands  and  most  elegantly  am  I  dressed  for  a 

*  This  letter  was  forwarded  by  Edward  Tilghman, 
who  was  "out  on  his  parole,"  with  the  gauze  handker 
chiefs,  ribbons,  etc.,  to  Mrs.  Paca,  born  Anne  Harrison, 
the  second  wife  of  William  Paca,  of  Wye  Island, 
Maryland,  who  was  a  delegate  to  Congress.  (Pennsyl 
vania  Magazine,  vol.  xvi.  p.  216.) 
K  19 


2l8      THROUGH    COLONIAL    DOORWAYS. 

ball  this  evening  at  Smith's  where  we  have  one  every 
Thursday.  You  would  not  Know  the  room  'tis  so  much 
improv'd. 

"  I  wish  to  Heaven  you  were  going  with  us  this 
evening  to  judge  for  yourself.  I  spent  Tuesday  evening 
at  Sir  Wm  Howes  where  we  had  a  concert  and  Dance. 
I  asked  his  leave  to  send  you  a  Handkerchief  to  show 
the  fashions.  He  very  politely  gave  me  leave  to  send 
anything  you  wanted,  tho'  I  told  him  you  were  a  Dele 
gate's  Lady.  .  .  . 

"  The  Dress  is  more  ridiculous  and  pretty  than  any 
thing  I  ever  saw — great  quantity  of  different  colored 
feathers  on  the  head  at  a  time  besides  a  thousand  other 
things.  The  Hair  dress'd  very  high  in  the  shape  Miss 
Vining's  was  the  night  we  returned  from  Smiths — the 
Hat  we  found  in  your  Mother's  Closet  wou'd  be  of  a 
proper  size.  I  have  an  afternoon  cap  with  one  wing — 
tho'  I  assure  you  I  go  less  in  the  fashion  than  most  of 
the  Ladies — no  being  dress'd  without  a  hoop.  B.  Bond 
makes  her  first  appearance  tonight  at  the  rooms." 

In  B.  Bond  we  recognize  one  of  the 
Meschianza  belles,  while  the  Miss  Vining 
to  whom  Miss  Franks  refers  was  a  Wil 
mington  girl,  whose  beauty,  grace,  and 
fluency  in  speaking  their  language  made 
her  a  great  favorite  with  the  French  offi 
cers  in  America,  who  wrote  home  so  en 
thusiastically  of  her  charms  that  her  name 
became  known  at  the  court  of  France,  the 


PHILADELPHIA  DANCING  ASSEMBLIES.      2IQ 

queen  herself  expressing  a  desire  to  meet 
the  famous  American  beauty.* 

"  No  loss  for  partners,"  the  lively  lady  continues, 
"  even  I  am  engaged  to  seven  different  gentlemen  for 
you  must  know  'tis  a  fix'd  rule  never  to  dance  but 
two  dances  at  a  time  with  the  same  person.  Oh  how 
I  wish  Mr.  P.  wou'd  let  you  come  in  for  a  week  or 
two — tell  him  I'll  answer  for  your  being  let  to  return. 
I  know  you  are  as  fond  of  a  gay  life  as  myself — you'd 
have  an  opportunity  of  rakeing  as  much  as  you  choose 
either  at  Plays,  Balls,  Concerts  or  Assemblys.  I've  been 
but  3  evenings  alone  since  we  mov'd  to  town.  I  begin 
now  to  be  almost  tired."  f 

It  is  probably  to  the  revival  of  the  hoop 
about  1778,  of  which  Miss  Franks  speaks, 
that  some  humorous  verses  refer,  in  which 
the  hoop  and  anti-hoop  factions  are  de 
scribed  as  arraying  themselves  for  battle 
upon  the  floor  of  the  Assembly  room. 
The  anti-hoop  party  was  under  the  leader 
ship  of  Narcissa,  who  with  her  followers 
declared  that  it  was  their  opinion 


*  This  story,  on  the  authority  of  Thomas  Jefferson,  is 
related  by  Miss  Elizabeth  Montgomery  in  her  "  Remi 
niscences  of  Wilmington." 

|  Pennsylvania  Magazine,  vol.  xvi.  pp.  216,  217. 


22O     THROUGH    COLONIAL    DOORWAYS. 

"  That  unless 

They  had  it  in  their  Power  to  dress 
As  they  thought  proper,  nought  would  be 
At  last  left  to  their  Option  free, 
And  so  concluded,  one  and  all, 
Hoopless  to  go  to  the  next  Ball." 

The  hoop  party  was  conducted  by  Fri- 
beto,  the  Nash  of  the  time,  a  miniature 
beau,  who  suggests  to  the  mind  Pope's 
dramatis  personce  in  the  "  Rape  of  the 
Lock:" 

"  A  gayly  brilliant  thing 
That  sparkled  in  the  shining  ring. 
•*  *  -x-  *  *  •*  * 

This  same  Fribeto  once  was  chose 
Director  of  the  Belles  and  Beaux, 
When'er  in  full  Assembly  they 
Should  meet  to  dance  an  hour  away." 

Indeed,  the  scheme  and  treatment  of  this 
rhymed  Bataille  de  Dames  are  evidently 
borrowed  from  Pope's  brilliant  satire,  and 
some  verses  seem  not  unworthy  the  pen 
of  Francis  Hopkinson,  as,  for  instance,  a 
description  of  the  two  factions  upon  the 
Assembly  night : 

"  Here  walks  a  Fair,  from  Head  to  toe 
As  straight  as  ever  she  can  go ; 


PHILADELPHIA  DANCING  ASSEMBLIES.      221 

And  here  a  Dame  with  wings  so  wide, 
Three  Yards  at  least  from  side  to  side. 

"  Hoops  and  no  Hoops  dividing  stand 
In  dread  array  on  either  Hand, 
Resolved  to  try  th'  important  Cause 
By  that  Assembly's  fixed  Laws." 

In  the  conflict  which  ensues,  Fribeto  is 
worsted  by  the  slim  damsels,  and  takes 
refuge  under  Melisinda's  ample  wing,  from 
whose  pocket  he  surveys  the  field  of  battle. 
Enraged  by  the  impertinent  popping  up  of 
the  dandy's  head  from  Melisinda's  pocket, 
Narcissa  aims  a  blow  at  him,  which  glances 
aside  and  falls  upon  the  bosom  of  his  pro 
tectress,  who  starts  up  with  a  cry  of  pain 
and  makes  her  escape,  leaving  Fribeto 
prone  upon  the  ball-room  floor,  a  pitiable 
object. 

"  One  peal  of  laughter  fills  the  place. 
The  Hoops  their  Hero  now  despise, 
And  view  him  with  disdainful  Eyes, 
And  with  one  Voice  at  once  agree 
To  cry  aloud  for  Liberty" — 

declaring 

"  That  Women  still 

In  dress  at  least  should  have  their  will." 
19* 


222      THROUGH    COLONIAL    DOORWAYS. 

Upon  which  the  humiliated  Fribeto  an 
nounces, — 

"  My  office  and  my  Right 
To  govern,  I  resign  this  Night, 
Nor  will  I  meddle  should  you  come 
In  greasy  night  Caps  to  this  Room, 
Or  sit  in  Rows  in  yonder  Benches, 
As  black  with  Dirt  as  Cynder-wenches." 

This  important  battle  probably  occurred 
after  the  British  evacuation  of  the  city,  as 
Philadelphia  gayety  did  not  cease  with  the 
departure  of  the  red-coats,  an  article  of 
apparel  that  General  Knox  declared  the 
American  girls  loved  too  well.  Arnold's 
advent  as  Commandant,  we  know,  was  in 
augurated  by  a  series  of  festivities  from 
which  the  Tory  belles  were  not  excluded. 
Indeed,  when  such  a  measure  was  con 
templated  in  connection  with  a  grand  ball 
to  be  given  to  the  French  and  American 
officers,  it  was  found  impossible  to  make 
up  the  company  without  them,  conse 
quently  they  appeared  in  full  feather,  at 
this  and  other  entertainments,  it  being  al 
leged  by  more  than  one  authority  that  far 
from  being  slighted  these  loyalist  ladies 


PHILADELPHIA  DANCING  ASSEMBLIES.      223 

were  given  the  preference  over  Whig  belles. 
Among  leading  Tory  women  were  Miss 
Polly  Riche,  her  friend  Miss  Christian 
Amiel,  the  Bards,  Bonds,  Odells,  Oswalds, 
and  Cliftons.  It  has  been  whispered  that 
Miss  Amiel  was  the  fair  lady  to  whom 
General  Arnold  was  engaged  in  writing 
amatory  epistles  before  Miss  Shippen's 
charms  conquered  the  hero  of  many  bat 
tles.  A  note  from  the  Commandant  to 
Miss  Riche  is  still  extant,  in  which  he 
thanks  her  for  a  picture  conveyed  to  him, 
in  language  so  guarded  that  no  reading 
between  the  lines  serves  to  reveal  the 
original  of  the  miniature,  although  there 
are  those  who  shrewdly  suspect  that  it 
was  a  picture  of  General  Arnold,  which, 
for  reasons  best  known  to  herself,  Miss 
Amiel  returned  to  him  through  Miss  Riche. 
Miss  Amiel  afterwards  married  Colonel 
Richard  Armstrong  who  was  in  America 
with  Major  Simcoe's  British  Foot,  while 
her  friend  Miss  Riche  became  the  wife  of 
Charles  Swift.  It  is  evidently  to  her  ap 
proaching  marriage  that  Miss  White  refers 
in  a  letter  written  in  1785,  in  which  she 


224      THROUGH    COLONIAL    DOORWAYS. 

relates  the  disasters  that  have  befallen  the 
wardrobes  of  several  mutual  friends,  among 
them  Miss  B.  Lawrence,  who  has  lost 
"  three  elegant  lisk  robes,  and  seventy 
yards  of  Lace,  beside  the  rest  of  her 
Cloaths.  There  is,"  she  adds,  "  no  de 
pendence  on  these  stage  boats,  pray  be 
careful  how  you  send  your  wedding  Cloaths 
up  when  you  come  to  Town  for  it  must  be 
horribly  mortifying  to  lose  them." 

It  is  evident  that  the  Assembly  Balls 
were  revived  soon  after  peace  was  declared, 
and  held  occasionally,  if  not  regularly,  as 
Mrs.  John  Adams  speaks  of  attending  an 
Assembly  while  in  Philadelphia  during  the 
administration  of  President  Washington. 
The  dancing  she  pronounces  "  very  good 
and  the  company  of  the  best  kind,"  adding 
that  the  ladies  are  more  beautiful  than 
those  she  has  seen  at  foreign  courts.  Mrs. 
Adams  must  have  been  subject  to  variable 
moods  at  this  time,  as  she  writes  to  her 
daughter  one  week  of  the  dazzling  bril 
liancy  of  Mrs.  Washington's  drawing-room, 
concluding  that  Mrs.  Bingham  had  given 
laws  to  the  Philadelphia  women  in  fashion 


PHILADELPHIA  DANCING  ASSEMBLIES.      225 

and  elegance,  while  in  another  letter  she 
says  of  an  Assembly  Ball,  "the  room  des 
picable;  the  etiquette, — it  was  difficult  to 
say  where  it  was  to  be  found.  Indeed,  it 
was  not  New  York ;  but  you  must  not  re 
port  this  from  me."  This  was  probably 
written  after  one  of  their  long  drives  to 
town  over  muddy  roads,  which  made  Bush 
Hill  seem  so  undesirable  a  residence  to  the 
Vice-President  and  his  wife.  Mrs.  Adams 
writes  in  more  amiable  mood  upon  another 
occasion,  and  is  pleased  to  find  "  Mrs. 
Powell  of  all  the  ladies  she  has  met  the 
best  informed,  beside  which  she  is  friendly, 
affable,  good,  sprightly,  and  full  of  con 
versation."  This  lady  who  combines  so 
many  charms  is  Mrs.  Samuel  Powel,  born 
Elizabeth  Willing,  the  aunt  of  Mrs.  Bing- 
ham,  who  also  came  in  for  a  large  share  of 
the  New  England  lady's  admiration,  being 
included  in  her  "  constellation  of  beauties," 
with  her  sister  Elizabeth,  soon  to  become 
the  wife  of  Major  William  Jackson,  whose 
portrait  represents  one  of  the  handsomest 
men  of  the  time.  The  Chews  of  whom 
Mrs.  Adams  speaks  are  younger  sisters  of 


226     THROUGH    COLONIAL    DOORWAYS. 

the  Meschianza  belles,  little  Sophia,  Juli 
ana,  and  Maria,  grown  up  to  take  their  sis 
ters'  places.  Old  Chief  Justice  Benjamin 
Chew  had  a  host  of  pretty  daughters,  and  in 
the  gay  world  of  society,  as  in  court  circles, 
there  is  always  a  laudable  disposition  to 
hail  the  rising  sun.  Instead  of  Mrs.  Bene 
dict  Arnold,  her  sisters,  the  Redmans,  the 
Bonds,  and  Miss  Wilhelmina  Smith,  who 
has  gone  off  to  Maryland  with  her  husband 
Charles  Goldsborough,  we  find  a  new  bevy 
of  beauties,  Sally  McKean,  who  afterwards 
married  the  Marquis  de  Yrujo,  and  whose 
languid  beauty  seemed  made  for  a  Southern 
court,  Mrs.  Walter  Stewart,  born  Deborah 
McClenachan,  Mrs.  Henry  Clymer,  Mrs. 
Theodore  Sedgwick,  from  Massachusetts, 
and  Miss  Wolcott,  from  Connecticut,  whom 
New  England  gentlemen  were  wont  to 
boast  equal  in  beauty  and  grace  to  Mrs. 
Bingham.  Mrs.  Adams  comments  upon 
the  gayety  and  prodigality  of  Philadelphia 
living  at  this  period,  as  General  Greene 
had  done  a  little  earlier,  the  latter  having 
declared  the  luxury  of  Boston  "  an  infant 
babe"  to  that  of  the  Quaker  City.  Much 


PHILADELPHIA  DANCING  ASSEMBLIES.      22/ 

of  the  extravagance  which  prevailed  for 
some  years  in  Philadelphia  was  an  out 
come  of  the  speculation  and  the  pursuit  of 
private  gain  induced  by  the  enormous  infla 
tion  of  the  Continental  currency.  "  Wealth 
thus  easily  acquired  was  as  freely  squan 
dered,"  says  Mr.  F.  D.  Stone  in  his  admira 
ble  paper  on  Philadelphia  society  during 
the  period  of  the  new  tender,  "  and  while 
luxuries  were  being  enjoyed  by  one  class 
of  citizens,  the  expenses  and  burdens  of 
others  were  greatly  increased."  In  the 
diary  of  the  moderate  and  abstemious 
Washington  we  read  of  a  number  of  en 
tertainments  and  numerous  dinners  at 
tended  by  him  at  the  Ingersolls',  Morrises', 
Chews',  Rosses',  Willings',  Hamiltons',  and 
Binghams' ;  at  the  latter  place  "  I  dined 
in  great  splendor,"  writes  the  President, 
who  was  well  content  with  one  dish  of 
meat  and  one  or  two  glasses  of  wine  at 
his  own  table.  Again,  in  a  letter  written 
from  Philadelphia  to  General  Wayne  by  a 
brother  officer  we  read, — 

"  Permit  me  to  say  a  little  of  the  dress,  manners,  and 
customs  of  the  town's  people.     In  respect  to  the  first, 


228      THROUGH    COLONIAL    DOORWAYS. 

great  alterations  have  taken  place  since  I  was  last  here. 
It  is  all  gayety,  and  from  what  I  can  observe,  every 
lady  and  gentleman  endeavors  to  outdo  the  other  in 
splendor  and  show.  .  .  .  The  manner  of  entertaining 
in  this  place  has  likewise  undergone  its  change.  You 
cannot  conceive  anything  more  elegant  than  the  present 
taste.  You  can  hardly  dine  at  a  table  but  they  present 
you  with  three  courses,  and  each  of  them  in  the  most 
elegant  manner." 

Miss  Sally  McKean,  in  writing  to  a 
friend  in  New  York  of  Mrs.  Washington's 
first  levee,  says, — 

"  You  never  could  have  such  a  drawing-room ;  it  was 
brilliant  beyond  anything  you  can  imagine ;  and  though 
there  was  a  great  deal  of  extravagance,  there  was  so 
much  of  Philadelphia  taste  in  everything  that  it  must  be 
confessed  the  most  delightful  occasion  of  the  kind  ever 
known  in  this  country." 

Some  of  the  old  names  run  down  the 
Assembly  list  through  all  the  years  to  our 
own  time,  as  Chew,  Shippen,  M'Call, 
Hopkinson,  Mcllvaine,  White,  Barclay, 
Cadwalader,  Coxe,  Lardner,  and  many 
more,  while  others  have  quite  disappeared 
from  Philadelphia  society.  There  are  no 
more  Hamiltons,  Oswalds,  Cliftons,  Plum- 
steds,  Aliens,  Swifts,  Inglises,  or  Francises 


PHILADELPHIA  DANCING  ASSEMBLIES.      22Q 

to  be  found  on  the  lists  of  to-day.  Some 
of  these  families  are  no  longer  represented 
in  the  male  line,  while  others  have  married 
and  settled  abroad,  notably  the  Binghams, 
Aliens,  Hamiltons,  and  Elliots.  Into  the 
social  circles  where  they  once  held  sway 
have  come  such  Southern  names  as  Ran 
dolph,  Byrd,  Page,  Robinson,  Carter, 
Hunter,  and  Neilson  from  Virginia,  and 
Tilghman,  Cheston,  Murray,  and  many 
other  well-known  names  from  that  Eastern 
Shore  of  Maryland  famed  for  its  good 
cheer,  and  for  its  hospitable  Colonial  man 
sions  presided  over  by  beautiful  matrons. 


20 


INDEX. 


A. 

Abercrombie,  Dr.  James,  119. 
Adams,  John,  n,  66,  88,  130, 

148,  192. 
Adams,  Mrs.  John,  13,  16,  65, 

191,  224. 
Adams,  John  Quincy,  70,  125, 

167. 

Agassiz,  Louis,  145. 
Agassiz,  Mrs.  Louis,  140. 
Alexander,    General     William, 

70. 

Allen,  Andrew,  214. 
Allen,  Ann,  216. 
Allinson,  Edward  P.,  154. 
Alsop,  Mary,  85.     (Mrs.  Rufus 

King.) 

American     Philosophical      So 
ciety,  97-147- 
Amiel,  Christian,  223. 
Andre,  Major  John,  26,  33,  44, 

52,  84. 

Armand,  Colonel,  210. 
Armstrong,    Colonel    Richard, 

223. 
Arnold,  General  Benedict,  63, 

194,  223. 
Arnold,     Mrs.     Benedict,     44. 

(Peggy  Shippen.) 
Atlee,  Dr.  W.  F.,  68. 
Aubrey,  William,  184. 


Auchmuty,  Miss,  38,  42. 
Auchmuty,  Rev.  Samuel,  56. 

B. 

Bache,  Dr.  Franklin,  174. 
Bache,  Mrs.    Richard,   12,  17, 

85. 

Barclay,  200,  228. 
Bard,  223. 

Barton,  Dr.  Benjamin  S.,  132. 
Bartram,  John,  103,  104. 
Bartram,  William,  104. 
Bayard,  The  Misses,  88. 
Beasley,  Dr.  Frederick,  167. 
Beckwith,  Colonel,  168. 
Beekman,  Colonel  Henry,  85. 
Beekman,  Mrs.  James,  84. 
Biddle,  Clement  C.,  167. 
Biddle,  Nicholas,  117,  152. 
Bingham,  William,  211. 
Bingham,      William,       United 

States  Senator,  211  (note). 
Bingham,  Mrs.  William,  89,  92, 

224,  226. 

Binney,  Horace,  173. 
Black,  William,  199,  210. 
Bleecker,  82. 
Blended    Rose,  Ladies  of  the, 

33,  42. 
Bonaparte,     Charles     Lucien, 

139- 

23I 


232 


INDEX. 


Bonaparte,  Joseph,  164. 

Bond,  Becky,  43,  218. 

Bond,  Dr.  Phineas,  103. 

Bond,  Williamina,  42,  216. 

Boudinot,  Elias,  74. 

Bowers,  Mrs.  John  M.,  8. 

Breck,  Samuel,  66,  152. 

Bunker's  Hotel,  67. 

Burd,  200,  216. 

Burgoyne,  General,  34. 

Burning   Mountain,   Ladies   of 
the,  43. 

Burr,  Aaron,  66,  131. 

Bush  Hill,  225. 

Byrd,  229. 

C. 

Cadwalader,  General  John,  216. 

Cadwalader,  Margaret,  216. 

Cadwalader,  Polly,  216. 

Cadwalader,  Dr.  Thomas,  in. 

Calder,  Sir  Henry,  28,  49. 

Callowhill.  Hannah,  178.  (Han 
nah  Penn.) 

Canino,  Prince  de,  164,  168. 

Carey,  Henry  C.,  123,  167. 

Carey,  Mathew,  167. 

Carey  Vespers,  123. 

Carter,  229 

Cathcart,  Lady,  18,  19,  205. 

Cathcart,  Lord,  42. 

Chapman,  Dr.  Nathaniel,  117, 

i53- 

Chastellux,  Marquis  de,  84, 148. 
Cheston,  229. 
Cheves,  Langdon,  173. 
Chew,  Elizabeth,  214. 
Chew,  Mary,  214. 
Chew,  Peggy,  42,  49,  58. 
Chew,  Sally,  43. 
Clarkson,  82. 


Clifton,  Eleanor,  28,  29. 
Clinton,  Governor  George,  81. 
Clinton,  Mrs.  George,  92. 
Clinton,  Sir  Henry,  38,  61. 
Clymer,  George,  155. 
Clymer,  Mrs.  Henry,  226. 
Coffin,  Eleanor,  20. 
Colden,  Dr.  Cadwallader,  104 

105. 

Collins,  Zacheus,  162. 
Conyngham,  200. 
Coxe,  Sally,  214. 
Craig,  Janet,  42,  56. 

D. 

Daschkof,  Princess,  140,  142. 
'Deane,  Silas,  148. 
De  Lancey,  Mrs.  Oliver,  212. 
De  Peyster,  82. 

Dickinson,  John,  103,  205,  216. 
Digby,  Admiral  Robert,  73. 
Draper,  Sir  William,  30. 
Drayton,    Colonel,    of    South 

Carolina,  125. 
Drinker,  Elizabeth,  18. 
Duane,  Mrs.  James,  83,  88. 
Duer,  Colonel  William,  70. 
Duer,  Lady  Kitty,  69,  70,  83. 
Dulany,  Daniel,  103. 
Du  Ponceau,  Peter  S.,  121-129, 

155,  162. 

E. 
Elliot,  Governor  Andrew,   73, 

204,  205. 

Elliot,  Elizabeth,  205. 
Emlen,  200. 
Evans,  216. 

Evans,  Governor  John,  184. 
Eve,  Sarah,  18,  199. 


INDEX. 


233 


F. 

Fishbourne,  215. 

Fisher,  200,  203. 

Fisher,  Joshua  Francis,  173. 

Foulke,  Liddy,  10. 

Francis,  Anne,  134. 

Francis,  Dr.  John  W.,  152. 

Francis,  Sir  Philip,  134-136 

Francis's  Hotel,  207. 

Franklin,  Benjamin,  12, 17, 106. 
112, 114, 120,  140  ;  founder  of 
Philosophical  Society,  97- 

IO2. 

Franklin,  Samuel,  70. 

Franklin,  Sarah,  71.  (Mrs. 
Richard  Bache.) 

Franklin,  Walter,  house  of, 
New  York  residence  of  Gen 
eral  Washington,  67-70. 

Franks,  Abigail,  212. 

Franks,  David,  212. 

Franks,  Phila,  212. 

Franks,  Polly,  214. 

Franks,  Rebecca,  14,  38,  43,  59- 
61,  213,  219. 

Fraser,  Caroline,  164. 

Furness,  Dr.  William  H.,  124. 

G. 

Gallatin,  Albert,  125. 
Galloway,  Mrs.,  213. 
Gerry,  Elbridge,  91. 
Gerry,  Mrs.  Elbridge,  86. 
Gliddon,  George  Robins,  125. 
Goldsborough,  Charles,  57, 226. 
Greene,  General  Nathaniel,  8, 

226. 

Griffin,  Lady  Christiana,  85. 
Griffin,  Cyrus,  85,  90. 
Griffitts,  Hannah,  54. 


Griffitts,  Dr.  Samuel  Powel,  154 
Grouchy,  Marquis  de,  164. 

H. 

Haines,  Reuben,  162. 

Hale,  Captain  Nathan,  84. 

Hamilton,  Alexander,  66,  91. 

Hamilton,  Mrs.  Alexander,  85. 

Hamilton,  Andrew,  201. 

Hamilton,  Mrs.  Andrew,  212. 
j    Hamilton,  Governor  James,  200. 

Hamilton's  Wharf,  206. 
j    Hancock,  John,  n. 
i    Harrison,  Anne,  217. 
'    Hays,  Dr.  Isaac,  174. 
j    Hazlehurst,  216. 

Heckewelder,  John,  129,  155. 

Helm,  Mary,  186,  190. 

Helvetius,  Madame,  16,  17. 

Hildeburn,  Charles  Riche,  203. 

Hopkinson,  Francis,  103,  120, 
220. 

Hopkinson  House,  21. 

Hopkinson,  Joseph,  152,  167. 

Hopkinson,  Thomas,  105,  198. 

Hosack,  Dr.,  151. 

Howard,  Colonel  John  Eager, 

59- 
Howe,  Admiral  Lord  Richard, 

38,  48,  55,  71- 
Howe,  General  Sir  William,  24, 

28,  41,  48,  55,  218. 
Humboldt,  Baron  von,  133, 151. 
Hunter,  229 
Huntington,  Daniel,  91. 

I. 

Ingersoll,  Bertha,  76. 
j    Ingersoll,  Charles  J.,  143,  166. 
I    Ingersoll,  Jared,  129. 
20* 


234 


INDEX. 


Inglis,  John,  203. 
Inglis,  Katharine,  214. 
Izard,  Mrs.  Ralph,  85. 

J- 

Jackson,  Major  William,  225 
James,   Dr.   Thomas   C.,    162, 

174. 

Jauncey,  Mrs.,  19,  204,  205. 
Jay,  John,  90,  91. 
Jay,  Mrs.  John,  13,  90,  92,  93. 
Jefferson,  Thomas,  18,  75,  in, 

124,  128. 

Jekyll,  John,  206. 
Johnson,  Lady,  62.     (Rebecca 

Franks.) 

Johnson,  Sir  Henry,  60,  62. 
Junto,  100,  101,  109. 

K. 

Kane,  Judge,  173. 
Keach,  Rev.  Elias,  186-191. 
Keteletas,  Jane,  84. 
Keyes,  Miss,  18. 
King,  Rufus,  91. 
King,  Mrs.  Rufus,  92. 
Kinnersley,  Ebenezer,  106. 
Kissam,  82. 

Knight's  Wharf,  28,  38,  39. 
Knox,  General,  66,  222. 
Knox,  Mrs.  General,  77,  92. 
Knyphausen,  General,  38. 
Kuhn,  Dr.  Adam,  103,  153. 

L. 

Lafayette,  Marquis  de,  142, 144. 
Lardner,  Lynford,  203. 
Lardner,    Richard    Penn,   203, 

204. 
Lawrence,  Becky,  223. 


Lawrence,  Colonel  Elisha,  58. 
Lea,  Dr.  Isaac,  174. 
Lea,  Henry  C.,  174. 
Leather  Apron  Society,  100. 
Lee,  General  Charles,  61. 
Leidy,  Joseph, 145. 
Levy,  Hettie,  211. 
Levy,  Samson,  211. 
Lewis,  Lawrence,  Jr.,  44. 
Lewis,  Morgan,  83. 
Lewis,  William  D.,  172. 
Livingston,   Mrs.    Robert    R., 

85. 

Livingston,  Mrs.  Walter,  92. 
Lloyd,  200. 
Logan,  Deborah,  9. 
Logan,  James,  183,  184. 
Lynch,  Mrs.  Dominick,  83. 

M. 
Macomb's  House  occupied  by 

President  Washington,  67. 
Madison,  James,   12,  75,   130, 

165. 

Marbois,  Barbe"-,  75. 
Markoe,  Miss,  94,  215. 
Maxwell,  Mrs.  James  Homer, 

83- 

M'Call,  200,  214,  228. 
Mcllvaine,  200,  228. 
McKean,  Henry  Pratt,  in. 
McKean,  Sally,  77,  226,  228. 
McLane,  Captain  Allan,  51. 
McMaster,  John  Bach,  99. 
McMichael,  Morton,  172. 
McMurtrie,  216. 
McPherson,  216. 
Meade,  216. 

Meigs,  Dr.  Charles  D.,  174. 
Meredith,  Samuel,  216. 


INDEX. 


235 


Meredith,  William  M.,  173. 
Meschianza,  23-64. 
Michaux,  Andre,  107,  115. 
Mifflin,  Elizabeth,  149. 
Mifflin,  John,  149. 
Mitchell,  Dr.  John  K.,  174. 
Mitchell,  Maria,  139. 
Montgomery,  82,  216. 
More,  Chief  Justice  Nicholas, 

190. 

Morgan,  Dr.  John,  19. 
Morgan,  Mrs.  John,  18. 
Morray,  Humphrey,  154. 
Morris,  Robert,  91,  205. 
Morris,  Mrs.  Robert,  13,63,91, 

214. 

Montresor,  Colonel,  49,  56. 
Moustier,  Comte  de,  74,  75,  81. 

N. 

Neilson,  229. 

New  York   Balls  and   Recep- 

tions,  65-96. 
Nixon, 216. 
Norris,  Deborah,  10. 

O. 

Odell,  223. 
O'Hara,  Colonel,  49. 
Ord,  George,  117,  118,  119. 
Osgood,  Samuel,  69. 
Oswald,  213,  223. 

P. 

Paca,  Mrs.  William,  217. 
Page, 229. 

Parton,  James,  99,  106,  128. 
Patterson,  Dr.  Robert,  129. 
Patterson,  Dr.  Robert  M.,  100, 
101,  162,  173. 


Peale,  Charles  Willson,  in. 
136-139. 

Peale,  Franklin,  129,  137. 

Pegg's  Run,  29. 

Pemberton,  200. 

Penington,  Edward,  60. 

Penn,  Governor  John,  216. 

Penn,  Hannah,  183. 

Penn,  Letitia,  181,  184. 

Penn,  Thomas,  201. 

Penn,  William,  178,  181. 

Penn,  William,  Jr.,  180. 

Penrose,  Boies,  154. 

Peter,  William,  170. 

Peters,  Judge  Richard,  n,  117, 
129,  166. 

Peters,  Richard,  200—202. 

Philadelphia  Dancing  Assem 
blies,  197-229. 

Philipse,  82. 

Philipse,  Miss,  73. 

Plumsted,  229. 

Pool's  Bridge,  28,  39. 

Powel,  Mrs.  Samuel,  225. 

Priestley,  Rev.  Joseph,  116, 
117. 

Provoost,  Mrs.  Samuel,  83. 

R. 

Randolph,  229. 
Rawdon,  Lord,  38,  71,  72. 
Rawle,  William,  122,  155. 
Read,  Sarah,  185. 
Redman,  Dr.  John,  57. 
Redman,  Nancy,  42. 
Redman,  Rebecca,  43,  57,  58. 
Reed,  William  B.,  170. 
Riche,  Polly,  210,  22^. 
Rittenhouse,   David,  112,  131, 


INDEX. 


Roberdeau,  18. 
Robinson,  Moncure,  174. 
Robinson,    Mrs.    William    T., 

67-69. 

Ross,  216,  227. 
Rush,  Dr.  Benjamin,  129.  132, 

i53»  J58. 
Rutherfurd,  82. 


Saxe-Weimar,   Duke    of,    165, 

167. 

Schuyler,  Madame  Philip,  18. 
Schweinitz,  Rev.  Lewis  D.  de, 

130- 

Sedgwick,  Mrs.  Theodore,  226. 
Sergeant,  John,  173. 
Serra,  Abbe    Correa  de,    117, 

138,  152. 

Shewell,  Betty,  120.    (Mrs.  Ben 
jamin  West.) 
Shippen,  Chief  Justice  Edward, 

44,  205. 

Shippen,  Joseph,  49,  214. 
Shippen,  Peggy,  33,  42,  63,  194, 

223. 

Shippen,  William,  154. 
Shipton,  Betty,  19. 
Short,  William,  117,  165. 
Simcoe,  Major,  223. 
Sims,  216. 
Smith,     Abigail,    191.      (Mrs. 

John  Adams.) 

Smith,  Williamina,  43,  56,  226. 
Smythe,  Hon.  Lionel,  74. 
Sneyd,  Honora.  30. 
Somerville,  Mary,  139. 
Southgate,  Eliza,  14,  18,  20. 
Sparks,  Jared,  100. 
Stamper,  Mollie,  211. 


|   State  in  Schuylkill,  u. 
Steuben,  Baron,  81. 
Steward,       Lieutenant-Colonel 

Jack,  61. 

Stewart,  Mrs.  Walter,  226. 
Stirling,  Lady,  83. 
Stoddert,  Major,  9. 
Stone,   Colonel  William   Leet, 

79- 

Strickland,  William,  117. 
Swanwick,    JoUu    M.    P.,    94, 

215. 

Swift,  Charles,  223. 
Swift,  John,  203,  214. 

T. 

Tarleton,  Major,  56. 

Taylor,   Mrs.    Abraham,    201, 

202. 

Temple,  Lady,  70,  84. 
Temple,  Sir  John,  84. 
Thackeray,  William  M.,  170. 
Tilghman,   Chief  Justice,  129, 

134,  155,  162,  167. 
Tilghman,  Edward,  214,  217. 
Tilghman,  Richard,  135,  136. 
Twisleton,  Hon.  Edward,  135. 
Tyson,  Job  R.,  161. 

V. 

Van  Cortland,  82. 

Van  Home,  Kitty,  213. 

Van  Rensselaer,  82. 

Van  Zandt,  Catharine,  83. 

Vaughan,     Benjamin,     M.  D., 

126. 
Vaughan,  Mr.  John,  117,  123, 

125,  127,  160. 
Vaughan,  Samuel,  126. 


INDEX. 


237 


Vaux,  Roberts,  167. 
Verplanck,  82. 
Vining,  Miss,  218. 

W. 

Wallace,  John,  203,  204. 
Walnut   Grove,  31,  32.     (Mes- 

chianza  House.) 
Walsh,    Robert,    LL.D.,    117, 

'52,   173- 

Ware,  Rev.  William,  125. 
Washington,  George,  8,  66,  87, 

124. 
Washington,   Martha,    65,   86, 

91,  224. 

Watmough,  216. 
Watson,  Joseph,  35,  166,  199. 
Watts,  Lady  Mary,  83. 
Wayne,  General  Anthony,  63, 

227. 

West,  Benjamin,  103,  120. 
Wharton,  Joseph,  Sr.,  30-32. 


Wharton,  Mayor  Robert,  118. 
Wharton,  Thomas  Isaac,  173. 
White,  Bishop,  119,  120,  214. 
White,  Nancy,  42. 
Wilcocks,  Alexander,  214. 
Willing,  Abby,  215. 
Willing,  Elizabeth,  225. 
Willing,  Mrs.  Charles,  201. 
Willing,  Mrs.  Thomas,  211. 
Wistar,    Dr.  Caspar,  117,   129, 

149,  157,  159,  161. 
Wistar,  Mrs.  Caspar,  150. 
Wistar,  Kitty,  67. 
Wistar  Parties,  147-176. 
Wister,  Sally,  9,  14,  199. 
Wolcott,  Miss,  226. 
Wood,  Dr.  George  B.,  174. 
Wrottesley,  John,  49. 
Wiister,  Katerina,  157. 

Y. 

Yates,  Chief  Justice,  83. 


MAJOR-GENERAL  WAYNE 

AND  THE  PENNSYLVANIA  LINE  IN  THE  CONTINENTAL  ARMY. 
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